Of Heroes and Monsters
by Special FX
Summary: When he awoke, the first thing that came to Zack's mind was that she had silver eyes. A young SOLDIER finds himself in a brand new world. "Zack, embrace your dreams... if you want to be a hero, you need to have dreams... and honor."
1. Chapter 1

When Sephiroth had given the order to pursue Hollander, Zack didn't question it. He didn't give much thought as to why Genesis had let him pass either. It _was_ somewhat strange to him though; did Genesis truly think Hollander could get away from a SOLDIER? But when that all too familiar sword became the only thing standing in between him and Hollander, Zack knew why.

"Working for Hollander now?"

The words came out with a bitterness that he didn't know he possessed. It took all of his willpower to simply remain calm as the man that was once his mentor, Angeal Hewley stepped in between him and the former Shinra scientist.

Zack waited for an explanation, wanted an explanation, but the older man simply remained quiet. Tense moments passed by as different kinds of emotions began cycling through Zack's head. He clenched his fists as he willed himself to remain calm, a good SOLDIER didn't let emotions take over.

"Just what is it that you're after Angeal?"

The former first class soldier said nothing as he lifted his sword away and simply turned his back.

"Angeal!"

After a brief moment, the other man stopped walking.

"World domination."

"That's not even funny man."

Zack had enough, the sting of betrayal was still raw and he wanted answers. It wasn't the time for Angeal's sarcastic jokes. He walked over and grabbed the older man by the shoulder, demanding answers.

"Then how about, revenge?"

"For what!?"

Angeal only shoved him off in response as he walked away once again.

"Damn it Angeal! Stop messing around!"

The first thing that he saw was white. Snowy white feathers danced around the room as a great white wing emerged from his former mentor's back.

"I've become… a monster," Angeal softly whispered with a faraway look in his eyes, "A monster's objective… is usually revenge or world domination."

Shock was the first thing that registered for him. And then for a brief amount of time, confusion, before finally, denial.

"No… you're wrong. Those aren't the wings of a monster."

"Well then…" Angeal said as he flexed his wing in response, "What are they Zack?"

Zack held his hand out, grabbing one of the falling feathers out of the air. The snowy white appendage was soft to the touch, which only reinforced his beliefs; that those weren't the wings of a monster.

"Those are angel's wings."

"I see. Then tell me Zack, what should an angel fight for?" Angeal let his beloved Buster sword fall to the ground and all but screamed out, "What do angels dream of?!"

Zack was at a loss for words. He wanted to say something, anything, but his mouth remained wired shut. It was as if his brain had short circuited and was just now rebooting.

If Angeal felt anything at all about his former protégés silence, he didn't show it. Instead, he only took a step forward, then another, and one more until he was standing directly in front of the younger man.

"Angels only dream of one thing."

Zack wasn't sure, but he thought that he heard a hint of desperation in his voice.

"Please… Just tell me Angeal."

"To be human."

He hadn't seen the punch coming. The very thought of Angeal attacking him never even entered his head. It didn't even register into his brain until he was flying halfway through the air. Angeal didn't hold back at all. It was a heavy hit, and it did its damage in the form of a few broken ribs. At that point, SOLDIER training kicked in and his body instinctively positioned itself into a defensive stance.

The Mako in his system did its job, numbing the pain. He could already feel his enhanced healing going to work. Broken bones began to mend together while bruised tissue regenerated at astounding rates. It was too bad the Mako couldn't do anything about the sting of betrayal that burned so painfully in his heart.

The situation was absurd. His mentor, the man that had been almost like an older brother to Zack was supposed to be his enemy? Zack could only let out a bitter laugh as he let his hands drop harmlessly towards his sides. He wouldn't, he couldn't fight his mentor. He couldn't fight Angeal.

"Defend yourself!"

He could only smile and shake his head.

"If you won't fight, then get out of the way!"

Zack's eyes widened in horror when he saw the familiar glow of Materia activate in Angeal's hand. Instinctively, his arms came up in an act of pure self-preservation. As the red hot flames of the Firaga spell ripped through his body, he still couldn't believe that Angeal had truly betrayed them.

What had happened to honor?

The great white wing on his mentor's back was the last thing he saw as the ground gave way. He fell, and then everything went black.

 _"Infinite in mystery is the gift of the Goddess."_

* * *

 **A Final Fantasy 7 x RWBY Crossover**

 **Of Heroes and Monsters**

 **Chapter 1-**

 **The End of Honor**

* * *

Ruby Rose raised an eyebrow in confusion.

It wasn't every day you saw someone sleeping in the middle of the road after all. Actually, just the fact that there was someone new was already a surprise in itself. Living in Patch, you didn't get to see new faces all too often. And she was sure that this guy wasn't here earlier when she passed by the trail to mom's grave.

Upon closer inspection, Ruby was surprised to see that the man was in fact, actually a boy. Raven black hair framed his face and he was wearing one of the strangest outfits she had ever seen. An all-black sweater with dark shoulder pads that simply looked way too big for no apparent reason. He was also huge, easily over 6 feet tall so she had just assumed that the boy was an adult. But in actuality, he looked to be only a few years older than her. In fact, he actually looked to be around the same age as her big sis, Yang.

Kneeling down, Ruby placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and gave him a small shake. He stirred a little bit in response, but otherwise not much else, so she shook him again, with a little more force this time.

"Hey, wake up! You shouldn't sleep in the middle of the road you know."

The first thought that came to her mind was that the boy had beautiful eyes. Eyes that were as blue as the bright morning skies. Silver met a hazy blue as they held each other's gaze for a brief moment.

"Angeal!"

She let out a small yelp and fell backwards in surprise as the boy suddenly jumped up in a panic, his eyes darting back and forth, as if he was searching for something.

"Ouch…"

The boy's eyes briefly widened in response before he reached down and held out his hand, a small apologetic smile on his face.

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you."

She took his hand and returned the smile with one of her own.

"Eh he, don't worry about it. Uh… There aren't any angels here, but I'm Ruby."

The boy chuckled.

"Not angels, Angeal. He's a… friend of mine", the boy said as he pulled her back up, "Oh, and I'm Zack, nice to meet you Ruby."

Ruby dusted herself off before reaching down to pick up Crescent Rose, which had fallen out of its harness earlier. A myriad of questions ran through her head, but she decided to just settle for the most obvious one.

"So-o-o-o… Why were you sleeping in the middle of the road?"

Zack scratched the back of his head, looking around at his surroundings.

"Well… To be honest, I'm not too sure myself… Actually, you wouldn't happen to know where we are right now, would you?"

"Oh, that's easy. We're in Patch."

Zack raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Patch? Is that a sector in Midgar or something?"

This time it was Ruby's turn to be confused.

"Midgar? What's that?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on a second. You don't know what Midgar is? You know, one of the largest cities in the world?"

Ruby furrowed her brow in thought. Was there a city like that on Remnant? She wasn't the most studious student, but she at least thought that she had basic geography down.

"Uh… Nope, doesn't ring any bells. Is it near Vale?"

Zack crossed his arms, a frown etched on his features.

"Vale? Oh boy… How about this, does the name Shinra sound familiar?"

She thought about it, but the word sounded so foreign that she quickly gave up and simply shook her head. The reaction that she received made her almost wish that she had just lied. The downtrodden look on Zack's face reminded her of a sad puppy.

She couldn't help but give him a pat on the back.

"Hey, it'll be okay. Oh, I know!" Ruby reached into her pocket and took out her scroll, "Let's see… There we go, take a look at this and see if it helps."

Zack took the device and raised an eyebrow.

"Is this supposed to be a map of the area?" He sighed as he handed the scroll back to the smaller girl, "I don't recognize anything on there."

Ruby's eyes widened in surprise as she took the scroll back.

"What? You've never seen a map of Remnant before?"

"Uh, Remnant?"

"Uh yeah… You know the planet we're on?"

"This is Remnant…? Zack paused, a hesitant look on his face, almost as if he was afraid to ask, "Not.. Gaia?"

Ruby only raised an eyebrow in response.

"You know what? I think you're like really lost, like out of this world lost. Or just really drunk, like how Uncle Qrow usually is."

* * *

Zack was, for the most part, still in a state of disbelief. Names like Vale, Patch, and even Remnant, meant absolutely nothing to him. He was almost positive that the slums were under the plates of Midgar, so where the hell was he now?

He could only sigh as he took a glance over towards his new walking companion. The girl sure had a preference for red and black, that was for sure. But, he supposed he wasn't one to talk, his SOLDIER uniform wasn't exactly the most color diverse outfit either.

They had been walking for a good ten minutes now. It was getting dark and the girl had suggested that they head over to her house to ask someone named "Uncle Qrow" for help. Zack still had no idea where he was so he didn't object.

"So-o-o-o… I've got this thing."

Zack's eyes widened substantially when he saw Ruby take out a giant transforming scythe out of no-where. If the blade wasn't menacing enough, the red and black color scheme definitely helped its case in that regard. He couldn't help but let out a low whistle in appreciation of the weapon. Busting that thing out was definitely one way to start a conversation. It was one hell of an ice breaker, that was for sure.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a scythe that big before. Or one transform for that matter."

"It's called Crescent Rose, and it's also a high impact sniper rifle," Ruby explained as she twirled the scythe once before letting it rest on her shoulder, "So, what about your sword?"

"Definitely not as cool as Crescent Rose, that's for sure" Zack replied as he grabbed the hilt of his Shinra stock weapon and held it over his head, "Sorry to disappoint but it doesn't transform or anything. It's just a regular old sword."

"Hey, the classics are cool too I guess."

Zack laughed. She should have seen Angeal's Buster Sword or Sephiroth's Masamune. Hell, even Genesis's rapier was cooler than his. Their swords were definitely a lot better than Shinra's stock weapons.

He couldn't help but sigh at the thought of his former mentor. He didn't understand why Angeal would defect over towards Genesis's side. He knew that they were childhood friends, but with all the lectures about honor Angeal had given him, he found it hard believe that he could just betray Shinra like that. So much for honor. Zack didn't like having these bitter thoughts but Angeal's betrayal had hurt him, bad.

"Hey, I'm sure Dad and Uncle Qrow can help you find your way back, they're huntsmen so don't worry about it."

He smiled. Ruby was a nice kid, though her worry was misplaced. While he was surprised and a little shocked at where he ended up, it didn't bother him too much. Wherever he was, he was SOLDIER, getting out of sticky situations like this was what he was trained to do. He didn't have a single doubt in his mind; he was definitely going to find a way back. And when he did, he would knock some sense into Angeal and drag him back towards their side.

But, that would have to wait. For now, he glanced back towards his new companion, noticing the worried expression on her face.

"Hey, I'm good, just had a nasty thought that's all. So, huntsmen huh? What're they?"

The girl's eyes seemed to light up.

"Oh, huntsmen and huntresses are just the like the most awesome thing ever! They're-"

Zack stopped walking and didn't let her finish the sentence. He grabbed her and brought her close, his other hand gripping the Shinra weapon tightly. SOLDIER training took over at that point and his brain went into combat mode.

"H-h-hey, what the heck are you doing?!"

She tried to squirm, but he kept his hold on her tight.

"Protecting you, so stop moving so much would ya? We've got company and they don't look too friendly."

His eyes narrowed as a large wolf like creature jumped out from the trees. Then another, and another, until there seemed to be a whole pack of them. They were strange creatures, black fur with white bone like plating. The sharp fangs and teeth were what really caught his attention though.

Ruby's eyes widened.

"Grimm!" She shouted and began to squirm even harder, "Zack, let me go already! I can take care of myself, you think Crescent Rose is just for show?!"

He frowned. There were probably too many of them for him to protect Ruby alone anyway, so he decided to listen to her. He would just have to trust her. She seemed to know what these creatures were at least.

"What're these things?"

"Beowolves, they're one of the different species of Grimm."

Then she disappeared, leaving only a shower of red rose petals in her place. He let out another low whistle as he saw Ruby cut through two Beowolves with ease before switching into Crescent Rose's gun form and shooting three more down. He had to admit, the girl had some skills.

He allowed himself a small grin, he wouldn't be outdone though.

"Hey, save some for me too!"

He was surprised when he cut a Beowolf down and saw its body start disintegrating. How did that work? He wouldn't have a chance to think about it as another Beowolf leapt straight at him.

A swift kick to the snout took care of that problem. There were a lot of them, and while he could just cut them all down one by one, he was curious to see how his Materia would fare against these beasts. He called upon his mana reserves and charged a Fira spell. Once the flames began to form around his hand, he released it and a torrent of flame shot out, incinerating any unlucky Grimm that happened to be in the way.

While his mastery of Materia wasn't as good as compared to Genesis or Sephiroth, he was still one of the better Materia users on the planet. You didn't make first without being a Materia expert.

He glanced over towards his companion and saw that she was just about finished as well. A couple more gun shots later, and the pack of Grimm from earlier all ended up as a heap of disintegrating corpses.

"Hey Zack, was that fire attack your semblance? It was so cool!"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, what's a semblance?"

Ruby blinked.

"You really don't know? Then what was that fire ability you just used?"

"I don't know about a semblance, but that was just my Materia."

Zack held out his hand with the red Fira Materia orb resting on his palm. He called upon his mana reserves once more and channeled the Fira spell. As the flames once again began to form around his outstretched hand, he unleashed the spell on a nearby rock, engulfing it in a sea of fire.

"Whoa! So you're telling me that little orb lets you shoot out fire?! How does that work?"

He shrugged.

"I wouldn't know, you'd have to ask a scientist about that. But yeah, they basically let you use magic."

"That's… so awesome! It's like Dust, except cooler!"

He put his Materia away and clipped his Shinra sword back onto his back.

"So, what's a semblance? And uh, Dust? You mean like, dirt?"

"No silly, Dust crystals," Ruby laughed as she put Crescent Rose back into its holster, "As for semblances, well, I guess you could say that semblances are like a projection of your aura. You saw my super speed right? That was my semblance."

Zack scratched his head and began to walk back towards the road.

"I feel like every time you explain something to me, another new thing that I don't know about pops up. Like, what's Aura?"

She giggled.

"Hey, at least the things you're learning about are awesome!" Ruby exclaimed as she moved to follow, "Aura is basically like your soul, or well, a manifestation of your soul. It's what lets huntsmen fight against the Grimm by granting them protection."

Zack blinked. Soul magic?

Things were getting weirder by the minute.

* * *

"We're almost there," Ruby pointed out, "My house is just at the end of this road."

Zack nodded in response as he took out his phone again. No signal. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he closed the flip phone and put it back into his pocket. And Shinra guaranteed he would get reception anywhere.

"Look, my house is right over there!"

And just as Ruby had said, a lone log cabin rested along the end of the road. It almost reminded him of home, minus the snow. The area definitely looked about as backwater as Gongaga.

"Hey Zwei, you hungry?" Ruby happily asked as she bent down to pick up the dog that had just rushed out the door.

Zack couldn't help but grin when he saw Zwei. He had always liked dogs.

"Cute dog."

"I know right, isn't he just the cutest thing?" Ruby gushed as she put Zwei back down, "Come on, let's head inside."

Ruby's house was a homely looking place. Warm colors that were a stark contrast to the girl's outfit decorated most of the walls. He found a nearby chair in what he assumed to be their living room and took a seat while Ruby was pouring some food for the dog.

"Oh, hey sis, is Dad or Uncle Qrow back?" Ruby greeted as she continued pouring food for Zwei.

A blonde haired girl yawned as she walked into the room.

"Hey Rubes, how was your tri-," She stopped her sentence midway when she noticed that someone else was in the room, "Oh ho ho, what's this?" He raised an eyebrow at the sly grin that she had on her face, "You bringing home boys already Ruby? I've got to admit though, he's pretty cute."

The blush that was beginning to form on the young girl's face was almost comical to see.

"W-w-what? It's not like that Yang!"

"What!?" The man behind Yang interjected, "What's this about bringing home boys?"

"It's not-"

He raised an eyebrow as the blonde man stepped around Yang and walked over towards him in a menacing fashion.

"Now listen here, kid," The man grabbed his right shoulder pad and gave him a glare, "We're going to have to have a long conversation about my daughter."

"Whoa, whoa!" He retorted as he raised his hands up in a calming gesture, "You got the wrong idea here pops!"

At this point, Yang was howling with laughter while Ruby's face was about as red as a tomato.

"What's with all this commotion?" Another black haired man asked as he walked into the room.

"Ruby brought home a boy," Yang wheezed in between her laughter.

"What!?" The black haired man's face went grim and he walked over towards Zack as well, "Alright kid, me and you? We're gonna have to have a nice long talk about my niece."

"Get in line Qrow, I'm going first." The blonde man gruffly interrupted.

"Will you guys just listen to me!?"

The room immediately went silent as all eyes went on to Ruby. Zack didn't think it was possible for someone's face to get that red.

"I brought Zack home because he needed help. Not because of," Ruby glared at her sister who was still trying to hold in her laughter, "Why Yang thinks I did. He's really lost."

"Why'd you bring him here then? You should've just brought him to the police station." Ruby's father retorted as he let go of his shoulder.

Zack breathed a sigh of relief as Ruby's dad finally backed off. He'd dealt with his fair share of overprotective dad's and they were never a fun experience.

"Because, he's like really lost Dad. Like, out of this world lost."

"What do you mean by that, Rubes?" Yang, who seemed to finally reign in her laughter, questioned.

"Likehedoesn'tknowaboutValeorRemnantorPatchorAuraorHuntressessandHuntsmen!"

The room went quiet once again at that and all eyes turned towards Zack. He didn't pay them much attention though as he was captivated by what was currently outside the window.

"Uh… Why does the moon look like someone blasted off a piece of it?"

A variety of emotions went through the faces of everyone in the room. Qrow reached into his pocket for his flask and took a drink. He clicked his tongue in annoyance when he found that it was empty.

"I'm not nearly drunk enough for this yet."

* * *

Author's Notes-

I wanted to finish my other story before I started another one but my muse wouldn't leave me alone...

Well, anyway let's talk about the story. It's been a while since I've played Crisis Core but if I recall, Zack ended the game at 23. He got stuck in Hojo's fun lab for 4 years, so he was 19 when the Nibelheim incident happened. He started Crisis Core at around 16 or 17, and since Angeal's betrayal happens pretty early into the game, for convenience sake, I have him at 17 in the story.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me. Enjoy the story, and leave me a review if you like it!

Cheers!

-SFX


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Interesting Times are Ahead

* * *

Zack stifled a yawn as he started his morning squatting routine. He had slept in a lot later than usual, more than likely due to the fact that he didn't have his alarm clock with him. There was also the fact that Angeal usually blew up his phone whenever he overslept, so it didn't come as much as a surprise when he saw that it was already noon when he woke up.

Ruby's family had been nice enough to let him stay the night in the guest room. While the guest room wasn't the most extraordinary of rooms, he was never one for excess luxury anyway. Growing up in a backwater village like Gongaga, you learned to make do with what you had. As long as the place had a bed and a mirror, it was good enough for him. A guy's got to keep up his good looks after all.

Once he finished his last set, he gave his limbs one last stretch before heading towards the living room.

"Yo-o-o-o-o, anybody home?"

"About time you woke up, sleeping beauty." Ruby's uncle, Qrow he believed, called out from the corner of the room, "Take a seat, and let's finish talking about last night."

He didn't object and took a seat next to the dark haired man. The man passed him a flask, which he accepted and took a sip. Only to spit it out right away.

This got Qrow to chuckle.

"Can't handle your liquor kid?"

Zack was no stranger to alcohol, but what the man had given him tasted more like rat piss than anything else. He quickly passed the flask back to the other man and could feel himself begin to gag as the he saw the Qrow take a long drink.

"How do you stomach that crap?"

"Kids these days have no appreciation for good liquor," Qrow remarked as he shook his head in disappointment.

"Speaking of kids, where is Ruby? And everyone else for that matter."

"Unlike you, other people have school and something called a job kid," Qrow dryly quipped as he deposited the flash back into his coat pocket, "They'll be back in a few hours."

"A job? Yeah, you sure are working hard man, I mean lying around getting drunk in the afternoon?" Zack sarcastically shot back.

"Getting drunk," The older man slurred, "Is a part of my job."

"Yeah… Somehow, I doubt that."

"I'd be at work too kid, but Tai told me to keep an eye on you," Qrow said as he leaned forward in his chair, "Anyway, that's enough talking about me. Let's get back to a more interesting topic, you and your story. What was it that you were going about last night? That you worked for some electricity company called Shinka or something, and that you weren't from Remnant?"

"It's Shinra and what else is there to talk about? I already told you guys everything last night."

"Can you blame me for finding the whole thing a little hard to believe?"

Zack frowned.

"Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous, believe me when I say that I'm still finding a hard time believing it myself. But if those maps are correct, then it's the truth, what else do you want me to say?"

Qrow shrugged.

"You could just be another crazy. Wouldn't be the first one I've seen."

He shot him a look.

"Ruby said that you huntsmen have something called a semblance right?" Zack questioned, "It's like soul magic you guys use to fight the Grimm with?"

Qrow nodded, unsure where the boy was going with the topic.

"You could put it that way."

"Then I'm guessing," Zack reached into his pocket and held out a few of his weaker Materia gems, "That you guys don't have Materia then."

Qrow raised an eyebrow as he eyed the multi colored orbs.

"Mater- what now? What is that, like a Dust crystal?"

Zack put away the Materia and stood up.

"Not a Dust crystal, Materia. How about I give you a demonstration? You guys got a target practice area around here?"

Qrow's eyebrow rose even higher.

"Yeah… We got one where I work."

* * *

"Is that your niece waving at us from the window?"

Zack raised an eyebrow when he saw the girl happily wave from the third story window.

"Yeah, the girls go to school here."

"Wait, but I thought you said we were going to where you worked."

Qrow took another drink from his flask as he waved back at Ruby.

"Yeah, I work here. I'm a teacher."

Zack tried to picture Qrow teaching a bunch of mini Ruby's. He then promptly started doubling over with laughter.

"What?" Qrow asked as he raised an eyebrow, "What's got you all riled up?"

"Pfft…." Zack wheezed as he tried to stop laughing, "You being a teacher is probably more unbelievable than me being from another planet."

"Very funny kid," Qrow dryly retorted as he put his flask away, "Anyway, we're here. The kid's still got class so we got the field to ourselves."

Zack took a look around. A grassy field with a few training dummies and targets were scattered around the place. Pockets of snow could be seen at various points around the field, but otherwise was open enough that he wouldn't have to worry about hitting anything.

"You won't blame me for breaking a few training dummies right?"

"Nah, knock yourself out kid. I wanna see this Materia nonsense for myself."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes at the comment. When he charged a Fire spell in his hand and shot it at one of the training dummies, Qrow didn't seem too surprised.

"So you can set a few things on fire kid, a lot of people have semblances that let them do that. You can do that with any regular old Dust crystal too."

When he charged a Thunder and a Blizzard spell as well, Qrow raised an eyebrow, but not much else.

"Alright, so that's a bit unusual for a semblance, but not impossible with Dust."

He casted a few more spells, but he didn't get anything else out of the older man other than an unreadable expression.

When he summoned Bahamut, Qrow's jaw promptly dropped. Bahamut let out a loud roar as it soared across the cloudy skies. It was a summon that Genesis had left behind in an attempt to slow him down back at Banora village. Bahamut had given him quite the fight at the time, but he defeated it in the end and took the Materia for himself. The great winged dragon landed with a loud thud in front of them as its head tilted in a questioning manner, unsure of what Zack wanted it to do.

Zack glanced over to Qrow who was staring at Bahamut with wide eyes while absently mindedly trying to unscrew the cork on his flask.

"I'm not drunk enough to be dealing with this type of crap yet," Qrow exasperated as he took a long drink, "Alright kid, I believe you now.

* * *

Zack had spent the past twenty minutes doing squats. Qrow had wandered off somewhere to look for Ruby's dad, telling him to wait there, all while muttering something about calling Ozpin, whoever that was.

He stopped his routine when he heard the sound of a bell ringing in the distance, a universal signal for the end of a school day. He raised an eyebrow when he saw a cloud of dust and Rose petals rushing straight towards him.

The girl came to a screeching halt, comically sliding past Zack as she tried to stop, all the while kicking up specks of grass and dirt. When she finally managed to find her footing and came to a complete stop, Ruby excitedly rushed up towards Zack.

"That was so cool! I didn't know you could use fire and lightning and ice, "Ruby exclaimed as she started talking even faster than before, words coming out at such a frantic pace that he wasn't sure he could even understand, "andwhatwasthatgiantdragonlookingthing?!"

He couldn't help but chuckle at the girl's energy. Was this how Angeal felt with him? He ruffled the girl's hair affectionately, like how one would pet a puppy.

"You're going to have to run that through me again Ruby," He said as he removed his hand from her hair, "I didn't catch most of that."

Ruby, to her credit, took a deep breath and calmed down relatively quickly.

"I said that your Materia were really cool."

"Geez sis, slow down would you?" Yang huffed as she ran over while attempting to catch her breath, "I'm sure alien boy over here isn't going anywhere else too soon."

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Alien boy?" He pointed at himself, "Is that supposed to be me?"

He wasn't sure if he liked that nickname.

"Yeah, you kept saying that you weren't from Remnant last night, remember?" Yang retorted with a smirk, "That means you're an alien!"

Zack chuckled. He supposed that if you put it that way, he could be considered an alien.

"So, this is you guy's school?"

"Yep!" Ruby eagerly replied, "Welcome to Signal Academy!"

"Hmm… So, I'm guessing this is a combat school?" Zack asked, "You know, because of the training dummies and targets."

"Yeah, Signal's the best combat school in Patch." Yang proudly answered, "A lot of famous huntsmen and huntresses graduated from Signal."

Zack nodded, filing the miscellaneous information away somewhere in the deeper confines of his brain in case he ever needed it. They made some more small talk until Qrow finally returned with Ruby's dad.

"Alright kid," Qrow grabbed him by the shoulder pad, "So, it's been decided that me and you are going to go on a little trip later tonight."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Where to?"

"To speak with someone that might be able to help you with your… unique situation"

* * *

The bullhead, while strange on the exterior, the interior was about the same as the Shinra transport copters that he was used to. It handled about the same and the rides were just as boring as well. He glanced over towards Qrow, and if the slight drool that appeared to be leaking out from the side of his mouth was any indication, the man was fast asleep.

Qrow had said that they would be going to Beacon Academy to meet with their headmaster, someone named Ozpin. When Ruby had found out that they were headed to Beacon, she had insisted on coming too. Tai quickly shut that thought down though, reminding her that she had school tomorrow. He wished that Ruby was actually allowed to come though; her presence would've helped relieve the boredom of the trip. He was never someone that enjoyed sitting idly around.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. Qrow was asleep for most of it and he passed the time by sorting through old messages on his phone.

When he stepped off the airship, Zack couldn't help but let his eyes widen in awe. He had always thought that the view of Midgar was nice, but Beacon blew the Shinra-ran city out of the water. The architecture was quite honestly, breath taking.

"You going to stand there slack-jawed all day kid?" The drunken man idly commented, "Come on, let's get going already. Don't want to keep Oz waiting."

He could only absently nod as he willed as legs to follow.

"So… This is a school?"

"Yeah, this is where they train the next generation of huntsmen and huntresses in Vale," Qrow answered as he punched a few buttons in the elevator, sending them up, "Yang's going to be attending here next semester."

"And Ruby?"

"Nah, not yet. She's too young, still got two years to go at Signal before graduating."

"Mmm… I see."

The elevator soon came to a stop on the top floor. Zack couldn't help but let out a low whistle as he stepped into the room. Giant moving cogs and gears decorated the place. A window that looked like it was designed to imitate an old clock hung in the background. The headmaster's office looked incredible.

By contrast, the man sitting behind the desk was quite plain in comparison. White hair and a pair of round glasses framed his face. Yet, despite the color of his hair, the man did not look that much older than Qrow. He supposed that Sephiroth was the same way.

"Ah, Mr. Fair was it?" The white haired man took a sip from his drink as he held out his hand, "I am headmaster Ozpin. Please, take a seat. We have much to discuss."

* * *

"Tell me Mr. Fair," Ozpin asks as he examines the Fire Materia gem resting on his palm, "These Materia of yours, what exactly are they made of?"

Zack scratched the back of his head. He was never one to pay attention when the guys over at the Shinra Materia research and development department would give lectures to the SOLDIER department regarding Materia. He never cared to know why something worked, as long it actually did work, it was good enough for him.

"Uh, look I'm not exactly an expert on the details. You'd have to ask one of the guys that worked over at the R&D block back at Shinra."

The headmaster put the Fire gem back on the table and took a sip of his coffee.

"And these Materia, from what Qrow has told me, you can wield a variety of elements, as well as summon other creatures. Is it sufficient to assume that there is a lot more that these little gems are capable of?"

"Yeah, I only showed Qrow the basic ones," Zack took out a few of his more powerful Materia gems and put them on the table, "There's more advanced Materia like Fira and Firaga, which are more powerful versions of the Fire gem over there. They're a lot stronger but the drain on the user is a lot worse."

If Ozpin was surprised, he didn't show it. The headmaster merely picked up the Fire gem once again, letting it roll around on his palm.

"Mr. Fair, would it prudent of me to ask that you allow us to keep," Ozpin held the Fire gem up, "This Materia for research purposes? If what you have said is correct, these Materia of yours can be seen as a superior alternative to Dust. This could be insurmountable in the war against the Grimm."

While he personally didn't mind, most of his Materia weren't exactly his per say, as much as they were Shinra property. But, if it would help potentially save lives, then he'd break a few rules. What was the worst they could do; demote him? That was probably unlikely, with him and Sephiroth being the only first class SOLDIER's left.

"Yeah, I don't mind. I don't use that one that much anyway."

Ozpin nodded and gave him his thanks as he put the Fire gem away in his desk drawer.

"Now, let's discuss what we can do about your situation Mr. Fair," Ozpin took another sip of his coffee, "So far, I have two options for you. We can get you an apartment in Vale, with a huntsman as your roommate to teach you basic knowledge of the world," The headmaster paused as he reached into another drawer and took out a sheet of paper, "Or, you can choose to attend Beacon."

Zack raised an eyebrow.

"You mean like, train to be a huntsman?"

Ozpin nodded.

"You mentioned that you were combat proficient. You would be able to learn more about Remnant and we would be nearby to assist you if you have trouble integrating yourself into Vale society."

"I mean, I appreciate the offer, and Beacon's cool and all, but I was under the impression that you would be able to help me get back to Gaia."

Ozpin folded his hands across the table.

"Mr. Fair, excuse me for being blunt, but from what I understand, you were transported to an entirely different world, perhaps dimension, with no knowledge of how or why. I am sorry to say that I wouldn't know where to begin in regards to helping you get back to Gaia," Ozpin said with an apologetic look on his face, "All I can offer are options to help make your stay on Remnant easier."

Zack sighed. He had hoped that he would be able to get a lead, a clue, anything when Qrow had said Ozpin could help. While he appreciated the offer, he couldn't help but be a tad disappointed.

"If it is of any consolation, Qrow has volunteered to at least help look into it."

Zack raised an eyebrow once more as he took a glance at the man standing in the corner of the room, who only shrugged in response.

"Well, thanks old man," Zack said as he cracked a grin, "And here I thought you wanted to kill me."

"That," Qrow slurred, "Was only because I thought you wanted to get your hands on my niece. Consider it my thanks for helping her with the Beowolves. And I'm not old kid."

Zack chuckled as he turned his attention back towards the headmaster. He glanced at the piece of paper in front of him.

"Is that a waiver?"

Ozpin nodded once again.

"If you do choose to attend Beacon Mr. Fair, you must realize that it will be dangerous. People do and **_will_ ** die; it is simply the nature that comes with being a huntsman."

Zack thought that the piece of paper looked familiar. He had signed one as a kid when he joined up with Shinra a long time ago. He began to weigh his options.

It didn't go unnoticed to Zack that there wasn't an option to simply let him go off on his own. He couldn't blame them he supposed, he was probably a valuable asset to keep around with his Materia and all. It was simply politics at work, and while Zack was never one for them, he at least had an understanding of them.

He put his hands behind his head as he leaned back on the chair. He had to admit, the thought of attending Beacon intrigued him. He was curious to see how huntsmen fought. He was also just curious about what it was like to simply go to school. Being from a small town in Gongaga, he had never went to school. And since he left town and joined up with the Shinra military police at 13, he never really had a chance to go.

Though, it bugged him that it been two days and he still hadn't been able to find anything relating to how he got here. Director Lazard had probably already put out a missing in action case on him. The Turks were probably searching through the plates right now for him or his dead body. Or they might have just branded him a traitor and assumed that he had joined up with Angeal. Either way, none of it would matter anymore if he couldn't find a way back.

He sighed as he grabbed the pen off the table, twirling it a few times in his hand before signing his signature onto the waiver.

If he was going to be stuck here for a while, he at least wanted to have some fun with it. He supposed he could think of it as a vacation.

He handed the waiver back to the headmaster, who gingerly accepted it and looked it over.

"The semester starts in two months Mr. Fair," Ozpin said as he signed off on a few more pieces of paper attached to the waiver, "Would you like to stay here until then? Or would you prefer to stay with Qrow and his family."

Zack glanced back over towards the drunken man and smirked.

"I think I'll stay with the old man, you know since we get along so well."

"Call me old again kid and I'll shove my boot up your-"

"Excellent. One last thing is that I'll need you to run by the infirmary before you leave to get some tests done," Ozpin interrupted as he stamped the waiver, "Other than that, I look forward to seeing you on initiation day Mr. Fair."

* * *

"So, how was Beacon Spike?"

Zack raised an eyebrow at the blond haired girl sitting next to him.

"Spike?"

"Yeah, Spike," Yang replied as she turned up the volume on the television, "I mean you didn't like alien boy, and you've got spiky hair so-o-o-o, Spike."

He wasn't sure he liked that nickname either.

"It was pretty amazing; I've never seen a place like it."

"Yeah? Don't get my hopes up for no reason Spike; I haven't seen it yet either," Yang grinned as she threw her arm over his shoulder, "So, that's going to make us classmates from now on huh?"

Zack returned her grin with one of his own.

"Yeah, I guess so."

"You guys are so lucky," Ruby said as she sighed, "I wish I could go with you guys too."

"Aww, don't worry sis," Yang replied as she went over for a hug, "You'll be able to go there soon; you've only got two more years left at Signal."

"Alright, time to go to bed, you kids got school tomorrow, "Qrow announced as he walked into the room.

"Aww, can we at least finish the episode Uncle Qrow?" Ruby asked with puppy dog eyes.

"Fine," Qrow sighed, giving into his niece's look, "But you guys are going to bed right after, and you too kid."

Zack raised an eyebrow.

"What, you think I'm going to let you sleep until noon again?"

Zack shrugged.

"Why not, I don't have anything else to do."

"You do now," Qrow replied as he tossed him a necklace, "You're going to help me with work."

Zack caught the necklace in midair and took a glance at it. The piece of paper that was attached to it read, "Guest Pass". He looked over at Qrow once again with a raised eyebrow.

"What, did you think that you were just going to freeload off us for two months?"

* * *

Author's Notes-

Two updates in less than a week? Yeah, my muse just won't leave me alone. And writing about Qrow and Zack is just too damn fun. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, glad you guys liked the story.

To Backseat Author- Yeah no Buster Sword here, but hey, that means Zack will get his own special weapon later. (It may or may not be a part of a gun)

Anyway, I don't have much else to say other than I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. Oh, and feedback is always welcome. Cheers!

-SFX


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

The Start of a Legacy

* * *

Zack considered himself to be a positive minded individual. There weren't many things that he hated in the world. But, paperwork was definitely one of them. And it just so happened that working for Qrow consisted of doing paperwork, tons of it. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as he finished grading the last kid's homework assignment.

"Finally…" He muttered as he slumped over his desk, "Can we go home now, or are you going to torture me some more."

Qrow took a drink from his flask as he graded another paper.

"As tempting as that sounds kid," Qrow replied as he put another graded assignment on the large stack of papers that were piling up on his desk, "We're pretty much finished here once I get through these last two."

Zack could feel new life being breathed into his body as he heard that.

"Thank god."

"What, can't handle a little paperwork kid?"

Zack didn't bother responding as he stretched out his limbs. Paperwork had a way of tiring him out more than going on actual missions. He stifled a yawn as he watched his older companion finish grading the last of the assignments. He was quite honestly surprised at how serious Qrow was when he worked. He had kind of expected to see the usually drunken man half ass his way through the entire school day. The man still got drunk, but he actually got work done at the same time. How that was possible was beyond him.

"You know kid, I don't think I like that scrutinizing look that you're giving me right now."

"I was just surprised."

Qrow stopped writing and raised an eyebrow.

"About what?"

"That you actually do your job."

"Keep getting on my nerves kid," Qrow replied with a scowl, "And I'll have you grade Tai's papers too."

Zack immediately went quiet and paled at the thought.

* * *

"Geez Zack, you look half dead. What happened to you?"

Zack stifled another yawn as he glanced over at his blonde haired companion. After a lot of persuasion, and much to his relief, Yang had finally agreed to finally stop with the ridiculous nicknames. Though getting her to stop with the puns was another story.

"Papers, papers, and more papers," He groaned in a tired tone, "I never want to work with your uncle again."

Yang chuckled as she took a seat next to the black haired boy.

"Hey, at least you've got good timing. Tomorrows the last day and then its summer break!" She happily replied, "Where were you the whole day anyway? I didn't see you at all at the school."

"I was getting tortured, by papers with terrible handwriting in his office."

"Sounds like fun?"

"Real fun," Zack muttered sarcastically, "So, where's your sister?"

"She said that she wanted to go check out some new weapons magazine or something," Yang answered offhandedly.

"Your sister sure is into weapons huh?"

She laughed.

"You don't know the half of it, you should've seen how much time she spent on making Crescent Rose."

Zack's eyes went wide.

"Wait, are you saying that she made that thing? Like from scratch?"

"Yep," Yang proudly replied, "Impressive right?"

He couldn't help but agree. From what he had seen, Crescent Rose was an incredible weapon. The fact that Ruby had made that weapon from scratch by herself was definitely 'impressive' to say the least.

"Hey, so can you tell me more about your world?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"Curious?"

"Yeah! I mean, going to a whole different world? How cool is that?"

"Yeah, I guess it has been pretty cool," Zack replied with a grin, "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Hmm," She put a finger to her chin in thought, "So, there isn't any Grimm from where you're from right?"

He nodded, "Yep, but we've got monsters of our own to deal with."

"Oh yeah? You mean like dragons and stuff? Like that thing you summoned before?"

"Nah, that was just a summon," He shook his head as he took out his phone, "More like these things."

She raised an eyebrow as she glanced over at his phone.

"And here I thought that the Grimm looked ugly."

He chuckled as he put his phone back into his pocket.

"Yeah, they aren't exactly-"

Zack didn't get a chance to finish as Yang's scroll had started ringing.

"Oh hang on, its Dad," The blonde replied as she took out her scroll, "Hello? Yeah, I'm at home with Zack, what's up? Wait, what?! Is she okay?"

He raised an eyebrow as he saw his companion's eyes go wide. After another brief moment of conversation with her father, Yang's face visibly relaxed as she hung up.

"Did something happen? You kind of looked worried there for a second." Zack asked with a little concern in his voice.

"Yeah… So, Rubes got involved in a Dust robbery at that store she usually stops by to pick up her magazines," Yang answered as she sent a text on her scroll, "Had me worried for a second there, but Dad said she was fine."

"She was 'involved' in a robbery…?"

"Yeah, apparently she stopped it," Yang proudly replied, "Dad and Qrow are going to pick her up from the station right now. Oh, let's turn on the news! Maybe they did a story on her!"

Zack couldn't help but chuckle as he grabbed the remote and passed it over to the excited blonde.

* * *

"I'm so proud of you sis!" Yang joyfully chirped as she threw her arm over Ruby's shoulder, "I can't believe that you're going to go to Beacon with us!"

"Yaaaang, you're embarrassing me," Ruby groaned as she tried to peel her sister off her.

"But I'm so proud of you sis! Everyone at Beacon's going to think that you're the Bees Knees!"

Ruby frowned.

"But I don't want to be the 'Bees Knees'! I just want to be a normal girl with normal knees."

"Would you even want normal knees as a huntress though?" Zack playfully added.

"Not helping Zack!" Ruby whined as she continued to struggle with peeling her sister off.

"See, even he agrees!" Yang replied as she finally let go, "You should be proud of yourself sis! Where's your excitement at?"

"I am excited! It's just that…" Ruby tilted her head down, letting her bangs cover her eyes, "I got moved up two years sis. I don't want people to think that I'm special or anything."

"But you are special! You single handedly stopped a notorious criminal!" Yang beamed.

"I didn't do it alone Yang, there was a huntress there that helped." Ruby argued.

"Eh, details," The blonde waved off, "We should totally celebrate though. What do you think we should do Rubes?"

"How about nothing?"

"You're no fun," The blonde dryly replied, "How about you Zack, what do you think? Maybe we should all go out to eat after school tomorrow!"

"Sure," Zack answered with a grin, "Sounds good to me."

"But Zack, I thought we agreed that we would be working on your weapon tomorrow!" Ruby opined.

"Aw come on Rubes, what would you rather do, go out and celebrate or work on weapons all day."

"Work on weapons," The younger sister adamantly stated, "And since it's _my_ celebration, then I get to decide what to do."

Zack couldn't help but awkwardly chuckle as he scratched the back of his head. Truth be told, he didn't really have an interest in modifying his weapon. Though, with the enthusiasm that the red haired girl had insisted with, he couldn't help but agree. While the old Shinra blade wasn't exactly the flashiest of weapons, it had served him well and usually got the job done. The sword had broken a few times but Zack attributed that more to his opponent's skill than problems with the sword itself. After all, the only times it had ever shattered were against Sephiroth simulations in training or when he had sparred against Angeal.

"Right… We did agree on that huh?"

"What? Are you serious?" Yang sighed, "That's sounds so boring though."

"Yep!" Ruby happily chirped, "Oh, I can't wait until tomorrow! I already have so many ideas about what we could add to your sword! We could change the basic design and add-"

"Or we could just scrap that idea and host a party instead!" The blonde interrupted, "You guys can work on weapons anytime, but a celebration for your entry into Beacon is a one-time thing sis!"

"We can't Yang, Signal's going to be closed for the rest of summer after tomorrow remember?" The younger sister knowingly replied, "If we want to use the workshop, tomorrow's the last day."

"I mean, you guys can just do it when we get to Beacon then," Yang offhandedly shot back, "It's not like they won't have a workshop when we get there."

Ruby sighed.

"Fine, I guess you're right sis. But really, me getting into Beacon? It's not that big of a deal…"

"Oh come on Rubes, don't start with that again," Yang protested as she threw her arm over the younger girl, "You're special Ruby, and I'm not just saying that because you're my baby sister. Not everyone can get moved up two years like that, alright?"

"I'm going to have to agree with your big sis on this one Ruby," Zack added, "I mean, a special occasion calls for a celebration right? We can work on weapons some other time."

"Alright already guys, I get it. We'll celebrate or go out to eat or whatever."

"Hooray!" The older sister cheered, "We should totally invite everyone we know. Well, Rubes and me will anyway, since you don't really know anyone else other than us."

"But!" Ruby interjected, "We're definitely going to work on your weapon when we get to Beacon, right Zack?"

"Yeah, definitely." He answered with a grin.

"Alright, it's settled then! But, there's one thing we definitely need to have for this party…" Ruby trailed off.

He raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Cookies!"

* * *

"You having fun yet kid?"

Zack glanced at the older man that had walked over next to him. He couldn't help but feel his gag reflex activate when he saw the man take another drink from his flask.

"Seriously, how do you drink that crap?"

"Hey, this stuff's better than," Qrow pointed over towards the punch bowl, "That ridiculously sweet strawberry punch over there."

Zack had to agree with the drunken man's statement for once. He was a fan of sweets, but the amount of sugar in that drink was a little on the high side. Though, it shouldn't have been a surprise, considering who it was for…

"So, what the hell did you do this time to piss off Tai?"

"Well…" Zack rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, "I kind of asked Yang for a dance."

Qrow couldn't help but laugh.

"No shit? You've got balls kid to do that in front of Tai, I'll give you that," Qrow remarked mid laugh, "No wonder Tai's been giving you the evil eye all day."

"Don't remind me old man," Zack sighed, "I can still feel him burning holes through my back."

"One of these days kid, I'm just going to kick your ass if you keep calling me old."

Zack chuckled in response, "You can try."

"You actually think you can take me, don't you kid?"

"Oh I don't think," He smirked, "I know."

"In your dreams kid," Qrow replied as he took another sip from his flask, "Maybe in 20 years when I actually do get old, you just might have a chance."

Zack rolled his eyes, "You'd probably roll over from being too drunk."

"Hey, I'm always drunk," Qrow slurred, "But, if you're so confident, how about a match then?"

Zack raised an eyebrow.

"You serious?"

"Yeah, sure," The older man answered, "I'll even make it interesting for you, if you win; I won't have you do anymore of my paperwork."

Now, Zack was definitely intrigued.

"And if I lose?"

Qrow smirked.

"You've got to do _all_ of my remaining paperwork."

He immediately paled at the thought. On one hand, no more paperwork. But on the other hand, the consequences of losing were definitely something that he wanted to avoid at all costs.

"Don't tell me you're scared kid?"

"Who me?" Zack laughed at the thought as he reached for the hilt of his sword, "Alright old man, you're on."

"Easy there kid, not now," Qrow replied, "This is still Ruby's party, so we've still got to stick around and enjoy it."

"Yeah, you're right. Maybe I'll go ask her for a dance too, you know, as a reward for getting into Beacon."

"Kid…" Qrow menacingly growled out.

"Whoa, whoa! Chill out old man, it was just a joke! Don't go all Taiyang on me now!"

* * *

Ruby raised an eyebrow as she looked over towards her older sister.

"So-o-o-o, why are they fighting again?"

Yang shrugged, "I don't know, something about paperwork?"

"More like it's your uncle trying to find a way to dodge his paperwork like usual," Taiyang sighed as he walked over towards the two fighters, "Alright, since I don't want you guys blowing up my backyard, let's lay down some ground rules."

"Let's just have a tournament style duel Tai," Qrow offhandedly replied, "I'm sure the kid won't have a problem with it."

"Yeah and have you two redecorate my entire backyard?" Yang's father deadpanned, "Yeah, no. Here's what we're going to do. No Dust, no bullets, and definitely no Materia. First person's Aura to hit red losses. Or in your case, when I decide that you can't fight anymore. Agreed?"

The two men both nodded.

"Alright, begin!" Tai shouted as he backed off.

Zack took his sword off his back and gripped it in a two handed style. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that Qrow had yet to take out his weapon. The older man hadn't moved at all and stood still with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Well? You going to come at me kid or what?"

Zack couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. Leave it the old man to not take him seriously. He tightened the grip on his sword and dashed forward. He could feel the Mako in his body giving him a surge of power as he swung.

To his credit, Qrow had easily dodged the first swing. And the second one, then the third one as well. So, this time at the end of his next swing, Zack went in for a kick.

The misdirection seemed to catch the older man by surprise as his eyes widened. The Mako enhanced limb did its damage as Qrow flew across the yard. Zack had to admit, Qrow was fast, faster than he was, but where Qrow had speed, he had power. Even though Qrow's Aura and arms had managed to take the brunt of the kick, Zack knew that the older man definitely felt it. A Mako enhanced kick wasn't a joke.

Qrow gingerly stood back up and reached behind his back, drawing out his sword.

"Alright kid, you might just make this interesting after all."

* * *

Ruby's eyes widened in awe as she saw the two men continue to trade blows. She had an inkling that Zack was strong, but she didn't know he was this strong. She had never seen anyone fight on par against her uncle before. The way their swords seemed to almost dance around in a deadly duet, it was simply mesmerizing to watch. While her father remained impassive, even her sister was undoubtedly impressed by the display of skill.

The sound of metal clashing against metal was enough to bring her attention back towards the match. The two men had been at a standstill for a while now, after that kick by Zack, neither had managed to land another blow since.

Her eyes widened even more when she saw her uncle hit a button on his sword. Gears started turning, parts started moving, and soon what was once a sword had transformed into a menacing looking scythe.

"You make that yourself too?" Zack shouted out jokingly.

Qrow chuckled.

"What can I say kid, the talent just runs in the family."

She had seen her uncle's scythe before; it was what inspired her to make her own. But to see him actually use the weapon in its scythe form was a much a rarer sight. She could only recall a couple instances in which she had ever seen him ever use that scythe. Her uncle was a good swordsman, maybe one of the best in Vale. But, he was still a scythe wielder at heart and the fact that he had brought it out meant that he was getting serious.

She looked over towards the other boy. This meant that Zack was someone worth taking seriously.

"So, are you finally going to get serious?" Zack questioned as he took a step forward.

"You're good kid, I'll give you that," Qrow replied as he took a step forward as well, "But, this is going to be my win."

"We'll see about that old man, I'm just getting warmed up!"

Ruby blinked, and then the two fighters vanished.

* * *

Zack couldn't help but allow himself a small grin as he parried another blow from the older man. Qrow was good, easily SOLDIER level good. The fight reminded him of his spars against Angeal. When was the last time that he had a simple fight like this? Not because of orders, not because of wars, and not because of betrayal.

He parried another blow as the two men began to circle around each other. Zack could feel his muscles tense as he eyed Qrow's weapon. With the sheer length of that thing, fighting up close and personal would be his best bet. Now, the only question was whether or not Qrow would actually let him get that close.

Once they had completed their third circle, Zack dashed forward, charging straight at the older man. Qrow kept his distance, masterfully using his weapon to its full potential and easily held him at bay. The wide arcs of Qrow's had managed to catch him off guard, forcing him to go on the defensive.

He grit his teeth as the scythe managed to nick his shoulder, easily cutting through the padding like a knife through butter. Jumping back, he created some distance as he examined his now ruined shoulder pad. While it stung, the wound was shallow enough that it wouldn't affect his fighting style. The Mako would kick in soon enough anyway.

Qrow twirled his weapon, letting it rest on his shoulder and eyed the blood that began to drip from its blade.

"Looks like first blood belongs to me kid," The older man remarked, "You still want to keep going?"

Zack didn't even bother to answer and only chuckled instead. If Qrow thought that a little cut was going to put him down, than the older man was severely underestimating him. While he wasn't proud of it, he had fought in the Wutai war and had been a pivotal piece in Shinra's victory. Compared to what he had dealt with in those battles, a small cut like this was nothing.

Instead, he ripped off the remains of his shoulder pad and tossed it to the ground. Flexing his wounded shoulder to test the muscles, he looked over towards his opponent and only grinned as he dashed forward once more.

Once again the scythe comes down, only this time, instead of parrying it, he continued to rush forward. The blunt portion of the scythes handle managed to catch him in the ribs, but he grit his teeth and powered through it, swinging his sword forward. Qrow was quick enough to avoid most of the blow, but Zack still managed to nick the man across the chest. Aura of course takes the brunt of the hit, but Qrow's Aura could only last for so long against Mako enhanced strength.

He flinched as he took in a breath of air; the hit had done a number to his ribs. They probably weren't broken, but it still stung regardless. The Mako had already begun circulating through his shoulder and the pain had already started to numb. It would only be a matter of time until it reached his now bruised ribs as well.

He got into a stance and eyed his opponent again. Qrow was quick, quick enough that the only chance he had of landing a blow on the other man was if he took one himself at the same time. Taking a glance over at Taiyang, he could see that Qrow's Aura was already down to half. If he could land one more clean hit on the other man, the match would be over. The use of a limit break briefly crossed his mind but he quickly dispelled the idea. This was a friendly match, not a battle of life and death.

He would gamble it all on the next blow. He grinned as he tensed his muscles and dashed forward once more. Win or lose, it felt good to be able to fight without being weighed down by all the negative things that had been apart of his life as of late.

* * *

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee as he glanced over the new files that were sitting on top of his desk one more time. Mr. Fair was just one surprise after another. When Ozpin had first seen the report from Qrow, he had thought that the man had finally had one too many drinks. As outlandish as Qrow's report was, he couldn't help but become a believer once he saw the Materia gem for himself; even more so now as he looked over the boy's new medical report.

The boy possessed no Aura whatsoever. The physical showed denser muscle tissue, bone, and even neural tissue. A blood test revealed an unknown agent that flowed through his bloodstream. Dr. Oobleck had noted that the substance was something that was completely foreign to Remnant, all the more proof to believe in such an outlandish report.

The headmaster took one more drink from his mug as he stood up and casually walked over towards the window. He couldn't help but allow himself a small smile as he took in the view of Beacon from his office. Summer had always been his favorite time of the year.

"Professor Ozpin, are you certain that 'enrolling' this Mr. Fair into the academy is the correct decision here?"

He let the silence hang in the air for a moment as he choose his next words carefully.

"Mr. Fair is an anomaly in our world Glynda," Ozpin reached into his pocket and pulled out the Fire gem, holding it up against the sunlight, "An anomaly with world changing potential. There are those out there that would wish to take advantage of this. Keeping him within our reach is the right choice."

The red orb seemed to almost sparkle as rays of sunlight reflected off it. Letting the red Fire gem roll around in his palm, he couldn't help but think that this semester would definitely be one of the more interesting ones since his time of becoming headmaster.

"Yes, I understand that Professor, but is this enrollment pretense really necessary? From Qrow's latest report, the boy was combat proficient enough to fight the man to draw. And we know better than anyone of Qrow's skill."

"Glynda, no matter how skilled the boy is, Mr. Fair is still a child," Ozpin replied as he put the red gem back into his pocket, "If we can keep tabs on him, while still allowing him to live and learn as a child should, is that not the best choice?"

Out of all the incoming students, Mr. Fair might have stood out the most, but there were other's that caught his eye as well. Big names like the youngest of the Schnee's and the champion of Mistral were the first to come to mind. Then there were those of lesser renown but provided just as much intrigue, such as a former White Fang member and Taiyang's eldest daughter.

A crow had flown by and he couldn't help but chuckle. How could he forget about the newest applicant? Taiyang's youngest, a little girl that had proven her skill by stopping a notorious criminal. And she had those same silver eyes, just like her mother once did.

He sipped the last of his drink and savored the bitter taste of the black liquid. Truly, this next semester would be one to watch for.

* * *

Time seemed to almost accelerate and days had soon turned into weeks which gradually morphed into months.

Zack had to admit, winding up in another world wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Staying with Ruby and her family had been a good experience. It gave him some much needed respite from his inner demons. Angeal, Genesis, and even SOLDIER, they all weighed heavily on his mind.

Angeal and Genesis had called themselves monsters, called SOLDIER monsters. They had said that monsters had neither dreams nor honor. But they were wrong, they had to be wrong. Those weren't the wings of monsters. Cissnei had said that wings symbolized freedom, not monsters. He wanted them to believe that as well, but Angeal and Genesis didn't see things the same way. He could feel his fists begin to clench.

SOLDIER didn't mean monster.

"Hey, Zack. You okay?"

He blinked once. Then twice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just spaced out there for a second."

"Are you sure?" Ruby continued with a worried expression on her face, "You've been doing that a lot lately."

"Yeah, don't worry about it," He forced a smile.

Ruby didn't seem to buy it, but she didn't have a chance to press further as a hologram of a blond haired middle aged woman appeared at the front of the airship, catching everyone's attention.

"Who's that?" Yang questioned with a curious look on her face.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch, and you are among a privileged few who have received the honor of attending this prestigious academy…"

Zack could see Ruby's eyes go wide once the hologram had finished it's speech. He glanced over towards Yang once Ruby dashed over towards the window in excitement. The older sister returned his look and simply shrugged before following after the younger one.

With the girl's taking in the view of Vale from the airship, he decided to take a look around the room. While checking out the view would have been nice, Zack was much more interested in seeing what their future classmates would be like.

The first thing that caught his eye was a girl, a girl with white hair. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that, was white hair a common thing here? His eyebrow rose even higher when he noticed that the white haired girl was surrounded by huge cases of luggage and men in black suits. Bodyguards maybe? He supposed that she was probably someone important, or wealthy anyway.

At the other corner of the room, there was a black haired girl sitting alone with a book in her hand. Though, what really caught his attention was the big black bow that was sitting atop her head. The big black bow that would occasional twitch whenever the girl turned a page. Inanimate objects didn't usually move and just as he was considering walking up to her to strike up a conversation, a blonde haired boy ran past him in a rush.

He let his eyebrow rise once again as he watched the other boy proceed to empty what looked to be like the entirety of his breakfast into a trash bin. It seemed like not everyone was a fan of airships.

"Hey Zack, come check this out!" Ruby's excited voice called over from the window, "You can see Signal from up here!"

He allowed himself a small grin as he walked over to the girls. The new dagger by his side, dangling harmlessly along the way. It had been a gift, from Qrow of all people no less.

" _I'd say that I would miss you too kid, but then I'd be lying."_

He couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. Though he would never let the man know it, in those two months, Qrow had helped fill a void that Angeal had left behind, and he would always be grateful for the older man for that.

The dagger had been hand crafted from the man himself. It was an extraordinary piece of technology, the small blade doubled as a revolver, transforming with a click of a button, in a similar fashion to the man's scythe. Qrow had said that he had made it as a weapon to compliment his long sword. He had never used a dagger before and he wasn't sure if he would ever use it, but he accepted the gift nonetheless.

"Look Zack, I think I can see Beacon!" Ruby excitedly pointed out.

He let his eyes wander towards the direction that the girl was pointing at and let out a low whistle. Even seeing it for the second time, Beacon Academy was still a magnificent sight.

* * *

Author's Notes-

Hey, guys! I'm glad that so many people like the story so far! I can't lie it's been a blast to write so far, and seeing the responses that I'm getting only makes it even better. Anyway, let's get on to the reviews.

So, some people have been curious about limit breaks. Zack will definitely have the use of some of the limit breaks that he has unlocked at this point of the story in Crisis Core. They might be incorporated into the story differently, but they'll be there more or less. As for the fusion sword? That's Cloud's weapon, I don't plan on Zack somehow obtaining that weapon, he'll get his own original one.

98Kazer- I love it too man, it's been a blast to write about.

Blinded in a bolthole- Right? Qrow isn't exactly the spitting image of a teacher.

ShadowWarriorOmega- The gun sword thing was mostly a joke about how almost every weapon in RWBY is a gun. It probably won't be a gun but, his sword's definitely going to get an upgrade in the future.

The Baz- He's definitely overqualified, that's for sure. Hopefully this chapter explains my reasoning for why he's attending as a student.

Keyslinger Roxas- He's going to get his own sword in the future.

Thunder Dragon- You know, I haven't put that much thought into the whole pairings thing yet. I've never written a romance before so it would be going into new territory for me, but if it happens along the flow of the story, it happens, and if it doesn't then it doesn't. But hey, Zack's a bit of a flirt so I can see it happening, probably. There's definitely going to be some divergences from the original in the next chapter regarding teams, I'll say that much. I'm not going to give him Aura or a Semblance. He's essentially from another world, and I'm going to assume that Aura can only be activated for the people of Remnant. As for weapons, we'll see what Ruby has in store eh?

Anyway, enjoy the chapter, and leave me some feedback if you liked it.

-SFX


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

The First Step

* * *

"Hey, Yang!" Zack choked out, "Can you… Let go now…?!"

The blonde skidded to such an abrupt stop that if it weren't for the fact that his Shinra boots were designed with quick stops in mind, he would have probably barreled straight into her.

"Oh, sorry," Yang apologized as she gave a sheepish smile, "Had to make sure we were far enough away that Rubes wouldn't follow us."

He breathed a sigh of relief as he went about fixing his turtleneck. The girl sure had one hell of a grip.

"So…" Zack asked as he tried to stretch the polyester material back into place, "What was that all about?"

"Well… I don't know if you noticed, but Rubes can get pretty… secluded at times. I figured that with us being at a new school and all, she could use this opportunity to break out of her shell a bit and go make some new friends."

"Well, if that's what you think, that's fine with me," He replied as he continued to fiddle with his turtleneck, "But, how about next time we take it easy on the clothes?"

Yang rolled her eyes, "Here, let me help."

The blonde walked close and began tugging at the material. Zack could make out a scent that strangely reminded him of dandelions. It was a pleasant fragrance nonetheless.

"And… There!" Yang chirped as she took a step back, admiring her work, "You happy now?"

He ruffled it a few more times. Luckily for him, she had managed to tidy it up enough so that it looked roughly the same as it was before. A man's got to look good you know.

"You know, I've never noticed…" She trailed off as she stepped forward once again, until their faces were mere inches apart.

He gave a sly grin, "How good I look?"

Yang laughed as she playfully shoved him away.

"I was going to say how much your eyes reminded me of the sky. Though, I guess you do look pretty good too." The blonde teased.

"I'd say the same to you, but I'd rather not have your dad try to kill me again."

"Come on, he's not that bad."

He gave her a look.

"Okay, maybe he is."

They both couldn't help but chuckle at the thought.

"So, how about we head over to orientation?" Yang asked as she checked her scroll, "I think it starts pretty soon."

* * *

"There sure are a lot of people." Yang offhandedly remarked.

Zack had to agree, the auditorium wasn't small by any means, but it was still almost packed to capacity. Were these all first years as well?

"Hey Zack, doesn't that girl over there look kind of familiar?"

He let his eyes wander over towards the direction that the blonde was pointing at. The red head in question did look somewhat familiar now that Yang had mentioned it.

"Isn't she the girl on the cover of the cereal we eat for breakfast?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he tilted his head in thought, "Pumpkin Pete's, or something?"

Yang narrowed her eyes and squinted, "Yeah! I think you're right. Huh, I wonder if there are any more famous people here."

He shrugged, it wasn't like he would know any famous people in this world, but took a look around anyway. He was able to pick out a few familiar faces from the airship littered around the masses, mainly the white haired girl and the girl with the black bow. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Ruby standing near the front with a blonde haired boy.

"Isn't that your sister with the guy that threw up on the ship?"

"Yeah, that is!" Yang grinned, "See, my plans working already. Ruby's already made one friend!"

A small cough soon brought all the chatter in the building to a close.

"I will try to keep this brief," Headmaster Ozpin began, "You have all traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft, and acquire new skills…"

A small round of applause echoed throughout the room once the white haired man had finished speaking. A blonde woman, one he recognized from the hologram on the airship, took the microphone next.

"You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation begins; I'd suggest that you all be ready for it," She coldly stated, "You are all dismissed."

"Hmm…" Yang hummed, "Hey Zack, what do you think initiation's going to be like?

He shrugged once more, "No clue. Didn't your dad or Qrow tell you anything?"

She shook her head.

"Nope, they said they wanted it to be a surprise."

Zack chuckled at the thought. Of course those two would say that.

He stifled a yawn, "So, you want to get going? I kind of want to crash."

"How can you be sleepy already? Come on Zack, where's your excitement at?"

"Let's see," He held up two fingers, "Really long air trip, and really long speeches. Yeah, I'd say they did a good job tiring me out."

Yang rolled her eyes in response.

Zack fought back another yawn. He had thought that he would have developed immunity to long speeches and lectures after having been with Angeal for so long, but apparently not.

"Ah, there you are Mr. Fair. Would you please come with me? Professor Ozpin would like to have a word." Glynda Goodwitch coolly stated from a few paces away.

Zack raised an eyebrow in surprise, but nodded anyway. Yang gave him a curious glance. He simply just shrugged in response before following after the blonde assistant.

* * *

Yang couldn't help but let her curiosity get the better of her as she watched the black haired boy follow after the professor. The thought of trailing after them briefly crossed her mind, but she quickly squashed the idea. They would probably be going to the headmaster's office or somewhere private anyway, so it would be a waste of time.

"Yang! There you are!" A familiar voice called out, "Thanks for ditching me earlier!"

She let an apologetic smile slip onto her face as she watched her baby sister come stomping over.

"Sorry Rubes. But hey, I saw that you already made a friend!"

The younger girl frowned and crossed her arms, "Yeah and I also exploded!"

She raised an eyebrow, "Yikes, meltdown already?"

"No! I literally exploded a hole, right in front of the school!" Ruby sighed, "Then I got yelled at…"

She couldn't help but chuckle as she ruffled her baby sister's hair, "Aw, don't worry about it sis. You gota take the good along with the bad."

Ruby groaned as she peeled her sister's hand off her head before taking a look around, "Hey sis, where's Zack? Wasn't he with you?"

"He was. Then one of the professor's came and said the headmaster wanted to see him or something."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

Yang shrugged, "Beats me," She replied before she grinned and threw an arm over her sister's shoulder, "So Rubes, tell me about the new friend you made today!"

"You mean Jaune?"

"Is that his name? The guy that threw up on the ship right?" Yang snickered.

"Yeah that's him," Ruby giggled as well, "He's a nice guy though."

"You!" A shrill voice called out.

"Eek!" The little sister cried out as she hid behind Yang, "She's back!"

"You're lucky that we didn't get blown off the side of the cliff!" The white haired girl screeched.

"Oh my god…" Yang sweat dropped, "You really did explode."

* * *

Zack stifled another yawn as he stepped off the elevator to the headmaster's office. Professor Ozpin had a way of speaking that reminded him of Director Lazard. That talking to them both made him feel like a child. He wasn't sure if he liked the feeling.

Ozpin had told him to refrain from using his Materia if possible. To not draw unnecessary attention to oneself the older man he said. He didn't really have a problem with it so he agreed. He doubted that he would need to use them anyway. He was at a school now, a combat school, but a school nonetheless. He wouldn't be out running dangerous missions for SOLDIER anymore. Instead, he was in a controlled environment, which meant that it would more or less, be safe.

Zack raised an eyebrow when he saw two boys laughing with a girl… That had a pair of dog ears? He supposed that she was one of the Faunus people that Qrow had mentioned.

He frowned when he got closer and noticed that they weren't laughing with her, but at her. The orange haired boy actually started to grab at her ears. What was their problem?

"Hey, knock it off! What'd she do to you?"

"She?" The boy with orange hair answered with a sneer, "That isn't a human, it's a freak."

He blinked, surprised with how much venom the orange haired boy had laced into his words.

"What do you mean?" He frowned and crossed his arms, "She's a Faunus isn't she? They're people too."

"What?" The other green haired boy questioned, "You hit your head on the way here or something? They're called Faunus because they _aren't_ people."

"Forget it Russ," The orange haired one replied, "If he wants to mingle with the freaks, then let him."

Zack frowned as he watched the two boys walk away. A painful thought began to well up in his heart. Was it because of instances like these that Angeal and Genesis considered themselves to be monsters?

"Uhm…" A meek voice sounded out, "Thanks for defending me."

Snapping him out of his surprise, he let his eyes wander back towards the source of the voice. Or more specifically, the twitching furry ears that were sitting atop her head. Just how did having an extra pair of animal ears work?

"Uhm…"

He blinked. Realizing that he had been staring, he gave a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Oh, sorry. It's just that uh… I don't see too many Faunus where I'm from."

"It's fine," She smiles a little bit, "I'm Robin."

"Zack," He returns the smile, "Nice to meet ya."

"Likewise," Robin puts a finger to her chin, a curious look on her face, "Though, where are you from that you haven't seen a Faunus before?"

Zack had to stop himself from blurting out Midgar. That would have only led to even more questions and he doubted that Ozpin would want him going around telling people that he was essentially from another planet. Especially after that long discussion they had just had now about not attracting 'unnecessary attention'.

"I'm from Patch, you?"

It wasn't necessarily a lie, but it wasn't completely the truth either.

"Oh, that's the island where Signal Academy is right?" He nodded in response. "I'm from Vacuo."

Zack only smiled and nodded again. He had no idea where Vacuo was, though it did sound somewhat familiar. Perhaps he had seen it when he was glancing through maps of Remnant?

"Well, I should get going," Robin tentatively began to wave, "I'll see you later…?"

"Yeah, definitely." He grinned as he happily returned the gesture.

Zack watched as she walked away, her brown hair fluttering in the wind, the furry ears atop her head moving ever so slightly every time a small breeze blew by. Taking out his new scroll, courtesy of Taiyang, he checked the time. It was getting late and he let out a yawn as he suddenly remembered how tired he was. Throwing his arms behind his head, he began to walk towards the ballroom. According to Ozpin, they would have a big day tomorrow, so it would probably be best to get some sleep while he still could.

* * *

48\. 49. 50.

Zack let out a breath as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Without all the SOLDIER missions, he'd started slacking. His morning squats shouldn't have been that difficult, he'd have to remedy that soon.

"Do you do that every morning…?"

He raised an eyebrow and turned his attention towards the voice before breaking out into a sly grin.

"Aren't you the guy that threw up on the ship?"

The other boy sighed and dropped his head in defeat, "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Zack couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Hey, it is what it is," He gave the other boy a playful punch to the arm, "You'll just have to impress everyone enough at the initiation so that they'll forget all about it."

"Heh, yeah…" The blonde boy tentatively laughed as he rubbed his arm, "Piece of cake."

Zack stifled a yawn as he stretched out his limbs. Sleeping in the ballroom with everyone had been a nostalgic experience; it kind of reminded him of boot camp back in his basic training days with Shinra.

"By the way, I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc," The boy held out his hand, "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

Zack laughed and took the hand, giving it a firm shake, "I'm Zack, Zack Fair. Sorry to say, but I don't have a catchy line like that to follow up with."

Jaune began to laugh as well.

"Heh. So, you know anything about what our initiation test is going to be like?" Jaune casually asked.

Zack shrugged and shook his head, "Haven't got the slightest clue. Maybe we'll get to fight some Grimm or something?"

The blonde boy seemed to visibly pale at the thought.

"Don't look so worried man, I'm sure all the hard work you put in training's going to pay off. You got this," Zack gave him a pat on the back before turning to leave, "I'm gona go get some breakfast, I'll see you at the test."

"Heh, Yeah, I'll see you there. Training, right…"

* * *

"Morning Zack!" A cheerful voice called out.

He glanced over at Ruby and Yang who were seated at a table near the window and headed over.

"Morning guys," He greeted with a smile, "You guy's ready for the test?"

"Yeah!" Ruby exclaimed in between bites of food, "I can't wait! No more, awkward small talk or getting to know you stuff." She took out Crescent Rose and began caressing it in an intimate manner, "Today I get to let my sweetheart do the talking."

Zack chuckled at the younger girl's antics as he began to start on his meal. Ruby sure was a quirky girl.

Yang sighed, "Come on sis, you're going to have to meet new people eventually. What about when we form teams?"

"Then…" She briefly hesitated , "I guess I'll just be on a team with you guys."

"Maybe…" The older blonde tentatively began, "You should try being on someone else's team…?"

Zack watched the ongoing exchange with an amused expression on his face as he continued to eat his pancakes. Shinra treated it's employee's well, but Beacon's food definitely blew the other one out of the water.

"You know," He began, interrupting the two girls, "It's not like we know how the teams are going to be decided right? For all we know, they could just assign us to teams themselves."

That seemed to get the two girl's attention.

"Well, I've been hearing that teams are going to get decided during the test, so we'll find out soon I guess," Yang casually stated.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Where'd you hear this sis?"

"Eh, you know. People, colleagues, friends, rumors," The older sister offhandedly answered as she finished the last of her breakfast.

"Well, like you said, we'll find out soon enough," Zack replied before taking another bite into his pancakes, "No point in worrying about it now."

* * *

Zack raised an eyebrow at the contraption that he and all the rest of the first years were currently standing on. They had all gathered around the cliff near Emerald Forest, standing on silver tiles while Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch stood off at the side.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors," The white haired headmaster began, "And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now, I'm sure that many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams," Professor Goodwitch continued, " Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today."

She had said those words with such finality that Zack could already hear a couple of groans and mumbles among his future classmates. For some reason, he could almost picture Ruby's face and had to stop himself from laughing out loud.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon," Ozpin took a sip from his mug before continuing, "So, it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well with." The headmaster paused, as if to let the words sink in, "With that being said, the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next four years."

Zack raised an eyebrow at that, but otherwise said nothing. Ruby on the other hand, had a look of pure horror on her face.

"After you've partnered up, you will make your way up to the northern end of the forest. You _will_ meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you _will_ die," Ozpin paused once again, "You will be monitored and graded throughout the initiation but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and we will then grade you appropriately."

He couldn't help but happily grin as he did a couple squats to contain his excitement. Now, this was the type of test that he could get behind.

The headmaster took another sip from his mug before speaking again, "Now, are there any questions?"

"Yeah, um sir?" Jaune nervously yelped out as he raised his hand.

"Good!" The headmaster ignored, "Now, take your positions."

Zack glanced over at his fellow students and could see everyone except Jaune drop into different stances. The blonde haired boy instead, just stands there and raises his hand once again.

"Uh sir, I um… got a question."

Zack couldn't help but feel his eyes go wide when he saw a girl get launched into the air. So, that had what the tiles been meant for.

"Yeah, um about that. So, this landing strategy thing, what is it? Are you like uh, dropping us off or something?"

Zack watches as another student gets launched into the air. Then another, and another, and then another. Some he can recognize, such as the white haired girl from the ship, or the Faunus girl he met yesterday, Robin.

"No, you will be falling." Ozpin casually replies before taking another drink from his coffee mug.

He gave a thumbs up to Yang and Ruby respectively when it came to their turns. He failed to hold back a laugh when he saw Yang put on a pair of aviator shades prior to her launch. He had to admit, the girl sure knew how to have fun.

"Oh, I see." Jaune nervously scratched the back of his head, "So like, did you uh, hand out parachutes for us?"

Zack never got to hear Ozpin's response as he too began to fly through the air. How long had it been since he felt the wind blow against his face like this? He didn't think that he had a SOLDIER insertion where he was allowed to free fall since the Wutai war. Those SOLDIER insertions had to be one of the best perks of being apart of the group. After all, how often did someone get to experience the feeling of flying through the sky?

He couldn't help but let out a cry of delight as he twisted around in the air.

Of course all good things had to come to an end, and so he began to brace himself for a landing.

Mako enhanced limbs easily withstood the force of impact as he felt his legs sink into the ground. Pulling his boots out of the small craters that his landing had caused, he began to stretch out his limbs. After a couple more stretches and a few squats, he started to break off into a run towards the direction of the temple.

The sounds of gunfire and explosions soon began to echo throughout the forest as he continued to run. It sounded like some of his classmates had already come into contact with the Grimm. Lucky them.

Taking a look around, he grinned as he leaped through the air, towards one of the higher branches among the trees. Grabbing the trunk, he steadied himself as he overlooked the forest from his position. He was hoping that he would see someone, but to his disappointment, the clearing was empty.

Jumping down from his spot on atop the tree, he began to walk. Throwing his hands behind his head, he started to whistle a tune as he took in the scenery. The forest reminded him of his home village, Gongaga. There wasn't a lot of wildlife or vegetation in Midgar, or Patch for that matter, so it was nice to be around a place with a lot of green for once.

The sound of low growls soon caught his attention as he stopped in his tracks. Raising an eyebrow, he took a look around as the growls soon intensified. Large wolf like creatures soon began to emerge from the bushes, their sharp fangs barred for all to see. Beowolves, he believed Ruby had called them.

He let a small grin rest on his face as the Grimm began to circle around him, like predators that had captured prey. Little did they know.

He reached behind his back and grabbed onto the hilt of his sword. Drawing the sword out, he settled into a two handed stance.

"Come and get it!"

As he charged at the Grimm, he couldn't help but think, things were finally getting interesting.

* * *

Author's Notes-

Not much happened other than some more character introductions and world building. The real fun doesn't start until the next chapter. Hopefully I can get it out by the end of next week, but who knows.

Reviews-

The Baz- I agree some of the limit breaks wouldn't make sense, and I don't plan on using those that don't. I don't recall ever seeing the topic of Mako shots for SOLDIER members being mentioned in the game at all, so I'm a bit lost there.

ShadowWarriorOmega- He actually hadn't met Cloud yet at this point in the game. He doesn't meet Cloud until after he met Aerith. I don't really think the two are that similar anyway other than the fact that they are both blonde. I mean, I see Cloud as kind of a quiet guy that likes to keep things to himself, while Jaune's kind of the opposite. Pyrrha vs Zack does seem interesting, who knows maybe we'll see it in the future, heh.

Lambertjonathan63- You're definitely right about that. He's definitely going to get some kind of oversized sword. Glad to see you like the story too.

Thunder Dragon- I have something similar in mind with the sword. As for the whole pairings thing? I mean I can see it happening I guess. With who? I don't know, I haven't planned that far into the story yet. Some of the names you've thrown out are definitely plausible though. There's just the fact that I've never written a romance before so it may or may not turn out horrible, lol.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews. I love reading them, whether they be long or short, so feel free to keep them coming! lol.

-SFX


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

Bishops, Knights, and Rooks

* * *

For Russel Thrush, this entire test was nothing but a pain in the ass. The next person that he would make eye contact with would be his partner for the next four years? What kind of ridiculous team assigning was that? He couldn't help but wonder if someone had spiked the headmaster's drink or something.

With a grunt, he cut down another tree branch as he continued onwards, deeper into the confines of the forest. Why Professor Ozpin had decided to assign teams this way was beyond him. Were you not supposed to assign teams based on people's strengths and weaknesses? Just the thought of being possibly paired up with some of these brats already irked him to no end. If he didn't find Cardin soon, he'd be completely fucked for the next four years.

The sounds of more gunfire caught his attention as he came to an abrupt stop. He felt a shiver go up his spine as a scream tore through the air. It sounded like most of the other students had started running into the Grimm already. Tightening his grip on Azurite, he began to pick up his pace.

At this point, he began to hope that he would run into someone, hell anyone. Russel wasn't a coward. He thought of himself as a survivor, and survivors knew how to pick their fights, strength in numbers and what not. And being in a forest full of Grimm alone? Yeah, that was definitely not something very good for his well-being.

When a low growl began to emit from the bushes in front of him, he froze. Taking a slow step back, he positioned Azurite in front of him and reached behind his back to draw out Chrysocolla as well. Of course, with his luck he would run into a Grimm before another student.

He thought that he had held his cool pretty well when a Beowolf crawled out from under the bushes. But, when another came out, then another, and another, he began to sweat. One or two Beowolves, he could take, but a whole pack? That was something that he would rather avoid.

Taking another step back, he held his twin daggers in front of him in a defensive stance as he considered his options. While he could make a run for it, that would push him towards the opposite direction of the temple. That wouldn't do, he still had a test to finish. And Beowolves were notorious for their ability to chase down prey anyway, so running was definitely out of the picture.

That left only one option.

Gritting his teeth, he poured Aura into his legs and launched himself forward. If he was going to be stuck taking an unsavory fight, then he would at least but the one to strike first.

The first Beowolf went down with relative ease as Azurite tore through the flesh like a knife through hot butter. With Chrysocolla in his other hand, he pulled the trigger on the dagger, activating the Dust chamber and shooting out a fiery Dust propelled bullet. The wolf like Grimm didn't stand a chance as the Dust filled shell easily ripped it apart.

When the rest of the pack pounced, he began to struggle. He grit his teeth as he attempted to weave his way away from the pack of Grimm. Fighting against numbers was never his forte; he was usually on the side _with_ the numbers advantage. Letting out a grunt in pain as a Beowolf claw nicked him in the back; he jumped away and pulled down on both the triggers of his daggers.

The Dust wasn't cheap, but he'd be damned if he was going to die before even officially getting into the school.

The shells soon made quick work of the rest of the pack. He held onto the triggers until both chambers ran dry just to make sure that the Grimm stayed dead. Once the smoke and debris began to clear, revealing the clearing to be empty, he let out a sigh of relief.

A loud roar quickly caused Russel to freeze in place as an Ursa leaped out from behind a nearby tree. The gunshots and explosives had probably attracted nearby Grimm, and with his luck, of course it would be a fucking Ursa.

When the great beast began to charge at him, he wanted to move, but his body seemed to be frozen in place. A large paw soon connected with his chest and he found himself flying through the air, smashing into a nearby tree trunk. The impact did its damage as he struggled to regain his senses to no avail. When the Ursa began to charge at him once again, Russel couldn't help but snap his eyes shut.

The blow never came. Slowly forcing his eyes open, Russel saw that someone had ran the damn thing through from behind. As the Grimm began to disintegrate, he got a look at his would be savior.

He couldn't help but groan when he saw who it was. Just his luck.

"Aw fucking hell, not you again."

* * *

Robin felt a shiver run through her spine as she heard another loud explosion go off in the distance. Robin had always been a bit of a flighty person, she and loud noises didn't get along all too well. Having a Faunus's enhanced senses definitely didn't help her in that regard either.

As one could imagine, with all the explosions and gun shots going off every couple of minutes, Robin wasn't having the best of times. Another loud explosion caused her to flinch as she moved a tree branch out of the way.

She hoped that she would run into her partner soon. The sooner she found them, the sooner they could go get this relic and finish the test. Which meant no more loud explosions. Ducking under another tree branch, she froze when she happened upon a large lumbering Ursa.

With a yelp of surprise, she jumped back, creating a sizable amount of distance from the beast. The Ursa, with all its intelligence, did what most young Grimm would do. It let out a loud roar and charged.

Robin gulped as she fumbled to take out her bow. Recalling her prior lessons, she reached into her quiver and drew out a red colored arrow. Ursa were forest based Grimm, so they had a natural fear of fire.

Notching the arrow, she took aim and let the projectile fly. Her aim was true as the missile hit the beast right between the eyes, the Dust filled tip of the arrow exploding in a sea of flames. She kept another arrow in hand, just in case.

When the Ursa dropped to the ground and began to disintegrate, she let out a sigh of relief. Luckily for her, it had only been one lone Grimm. If it had been more than one, things might have gotten ugly. Archers didn't tend to do too well when outnumbered.

Throwing Albatross back over her shoulder, she couldn't help but allow herself a small smile. She had taken down her first Ursa!

The sound of a nearby explosion made her wince, quickly shaking her out of her stupor.

The noise was close enough nearby that she decided to slowly tread over and take a look. Perhaps she would find someone that hadn't had a partner yet? Poking her head out from behind a tree, she let out a yelp as a small Beowolf flew straight into the very tree she was hiding behind. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the Beowolf collapsed and soon began to disintegrate as well.

She could feel the color leave her face as she shared a look with the boy that had just dispatched the Grimm. Orange hair, bulky grey armor, with a menacing looking mace over his shoulders; the same boy that had she had ran into the day before.

"Oh, you have got be kidding me." The boy spat out in disgust before he quickly turned around and walked away.

"Ah… but," Robin tentatively raised a finger, "We're supposed to be teammates…"

* * *

Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he admired the view from atop the cliff. Another explosion rang through the air, scaring away any non-Grimm wildlife in the vicinity. The students in this year's crop seemed to have a preference for Dust based explosives. Whether that would be a positive thing or not remained to be seen.

"Sir, our last pair has been formed," Glynda Goodwitch stated as she continued to tap away at her scroll, "Robin Snow and Cardin Winchester. Ignoring their… personal issues, they should make a well-rounded pair, with Mr. Winchester being a frontline fighter and Ms. Snow preferring long ranged combat."

"Hmm…" Professor Ozpin hummed, but otherwise remained silent.

"Then on the other hand, there's Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos. While they seem to get along well enough, Mr. Arc has clearly shown us that he is not ready for this level of combat yet," The blonde haired assistant began, "I don't care what his transcripts say, if it wasn't for Ms. Nikos, this Mr. Arc would no doubt have failed by now."

Ozpin didn't say anything in response. Instead, he kept his eyes glued to his own scroll with footage of Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee in one corner along with Yang Xiao Long and Blake Belladonna in the other. While the elder sister and the former White Fang member seemed to have no problems with one another, for the younger sister and the youngest Schnee; that was a different story.

With a small tap, he switched surveillances once again, this time settling for footage of one Mr. Zack Fair.

"…Professor Ozpin?"

* * *

Zack threw his hands behind his head as he trailed behind his new partner. After he had saved the green haired boy, they hadn't spoken much since.

"So," He began, "Where are you from?"

"Vale," Came the gruff reply.

"Hmm…" Zack hummed, "So, you fight with daggers?"

"Look," The other boy began as he stopped walking, "I appreciate what you did for me back there Fair, but-"

"Just call me Zack," He interrupted.

"…Fair," Russel curtly replied, "Like I was saying, I appreciate that you saved my ass back there, but this doesn't make us friends. If you want to get chummy with someone, go talk with that freak."

Zack frowned, "What's your problem with Robin?"

The green haired boy gave him a hard look, "She's a Faunus."

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Zack shot back, "You don't even know her."

"I know enough," Russel spat out as he started walking again.

"Hey, wait! What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"We've still got a relic to get," Russel briefly paused, "so you can either come with me or stand there like an idiot."

The green haired boy wouldn't say anything more on the matter and walked away. Zack blew one of his bangs away from his face in annoyance as he ran after the other boy.

"This whole partner shtick just started looking reeeaaal gloomy," He muttered as he trailed behind his new teammate.

Hopefully, Ruby and Yang were having a better time than he was.

* * *

"Are these… Chess pieces?"

Yang glanced over towards her new partner. Blake wasn't too bad of a teammate she supposed, though the girl didn't talk much. Well, she'd fix that soon enough.

"Looks like it," Yang offhandedly replied, "Some of them are missing though. Seems like we weren't the first ones here."

"Well…" Blake began, "I guess we should pick one."

Yang gave a nod in response as she began to walk around, glancing at the remaining relic pieces scattered throughout the temple ruins. Stopping in front of a a knight piece, she picked it up and held it up in the air.

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang asked as she held the relic high in the air so her new partner could see.

Blake just shrugged, a small smile on her face, "Sure."

"Well, that was easy," The blonde haired girl casually remarked as she pocked the small chess piece.

"It's not like the place was very hard to find."

Yang grinned, "Yeah, you did a great job on that end partner; it was like you've been here before or something. So, back to the cliff then?"

Blake just shrugged once again, "I guess so."

* * *

Zack couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the rising pillar of smoke. Had someone managed to set the forest on fire?

"Hey Russel, you see that?" Zack asked as he pointed at the direction of the smoke.

Russel stopped walking and narrowed his eyes, glancing towards the direction of the pillar of smoke.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Let's go check it out."

"Check it out?" Russel frowned, "For what?"

"What if there's someone in trouble?"

"That's not our problem Fair. In case you've forgotten, we still have to get to the temple and get our-"

The green haired boy never got to finish his sentence as a loud thundering thud echoed throughout the forest. What followed was an inhuman like screech that managed to send shivers down both their spines. Whatever had made that noise, it probably wasn't friendly.

"I'm going to check it out," Zack stated as he began to run in the direction of the smoke.

"Hey, Fair! Wait!"

Zack didn't bother responding. Russel could catch up if he wanted too. If not, he could just find him again later. But for now, he'd focus on whatever had made that noise. Hopefully, who ever had managed to get that thing's attention was alright. He picked up the pace when he began to hear gunshots.

His eyes widened when he saw a familiar red hood and a white haired girl in the distance.

"Ruby!" Zack shouted as he ran towards the scythe wielding girl.

Ruby turned around with a raised eyebrow before breaking out into a grin.

"Hey Zack!" Ruby happily waved, "Did you get a partner yet?"

"Ruby!" The girl in white next to her yelled, "We don't have time to catch up with friends! In case you've forgotten, we've still got a pretty big problem-"

Another loud screech quickly brought everyone's attention towards the skies. Zack slowly came to a stop next to the two girls as he looked on at the beast in the air. It had to be one of the biggest birds he had ever seen. The thing was jet black aside from the white skull like face that it had in common with every other Grimm. What had really caught his attention though were the huge pincer like talons that the monster possessed.

And it was coming straight at them.

* * *

"Stop following me already."

Robin frowned, "We're supposed to be partners."

"I'm not going to be partners with a damn Faunus," Cardin spat out without so much as giving her a glance.

Robin bit her lower lip. It wasn't like she wanted to be partners with a racist human anyway, but they didn't have a choice. And she wasn't going to fail her initiation just because of one racist human. It wasn't as if it was anything new for her anyway. She had dealt with it her whole life and she could deal with it now.

Robin couldn't help but let out a soft sigh though, why couldn't she have ran into someone else? She didn't want to think badly of the headmaster, but throwing his students out into the woods and hoping that they would get into teams where they would all get along with one another was a bit far-fetched.

The two continued their walk in silence, the only noises being the occasional sounds of gunfire. Thankfully, the explosions had died off a while ago, and while the gunfire still made her jump a bit; it was a lot better than having to deal with loud explosions every couple of minutes.

When Cardin had stopped walking in front a small cliff, she raised an eyebrow and took a look. A ruined temple lied beneath them, but more importantly, the relics as well.

"I think this is the place," Robin softly said.

Cardin only gave a grunt in reply and began heading down. She followed, not too far behind.

"It looks like most of our classmates have already been here," Robin pointed out as she looked around at the remaining relics.

The orange haired boy didn't say anything in response and instead just snatched up one of the remaining chess pieces.

Robin flinched when she heard a loud scream tear through the air.

"What the fuck?" Cardin questioned as he looked up at the sky.

A blonde haired boy flew past them. She couldn't help but wince when he crash landed into a nearby tree. While she didn't agree with his use of profanity, she had to agree with her new partner's point. What was that about?

Robin didn't get a chance to ask as a red haired girl came running past them. Her eyes grew wide when a large Deathstalker came running after her, which in turn, meant that a very large and scary looking Deathstalker was running after them.

"Holy shit!"

This time, she couldn't help but agree with Cardin's choice of words.

* * *

Zack leaped into a roll as he dodged a hail of sharp feathers by hiding behind a nearby tree.

"Good thing we went to check out the smoke, huh Fair?"

Zack gave his partner a scowl. To his surprise, Russel had followed after him despite his apparent reluctance. Though at this point, Zack was starting to wish that the other boy hadn't, if he was just going to make snarky comments the whole time.

"We need a plan," Ruby called out as she fired a couple more shots at the beast with her scythe, "Anyone got any ideas?"

Zack took out the dagger that Qrow had given him and clicked a button on it, letting it transform into a revolver. He took a couple pot shots at the large Grimm, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect. Perhaps if he used his Materia… Zack quickly squashed the thought; he had promised Ozpin after all. He didn't want to trouble the headmaster any more than he already had.

"Yeah I got one, how about we haul ass back to the cliff!" Russel yelled.

"And leave the cover of the forest?" Weiss shot back, "Yes, let's just expose ourselves to the Nevermore that happens to have ranged attacks, wonderful idea."

Russel gave the white haired girl a glare.

"Well, if nobody has any suggestions!" Ruby shouted out in between gunshots, "I've got an idea!"

* * *

"Why the fuck is there a Deathstalker here?!" Cardin screamed in a panic.

Jaune couldn't help but grimace at the orange haired boy's volume.

"Just. Keep. Running!" Pyrrha yelled back.

He looked back behind him and saw that the scorpion like Grimm was gaining on them. He gulped. Why did he think it was a good idea to check that cave? Nothing good came from checking dark scary looking caves…

"We can't keep running forever!" Robin shouted.

Jaune racked his brain for ideas. His eyes shot around frantically, looking for something, anything to use to their benefit. They finally settled on a nearby cliff and his eyes widened.

"Robin, you're an archer right? Do you have any arrows with blue Dust?" He called out to the brown haired girl.

The Faunus girl raised an eyebrow, but quickly nodded in response.

"Okay, here's the plan. Pyrrha and I are going to draw it's attention towards that cliff," He pointed in the direction, "You think you can freeze it in place when we get there?"

"Perhaps… momentarily," She hesitantly replied, "But, what then?"

"Then," He glanced over at the orange haired boy running next to him, "We have Cardin jump from that cliff and smash it with his mace while we hit it with everything we got."

"Who made you leader?" Cardin growled.

"Do you have a better idea?" He shot back.

The orange haired boy scowled but otherwise didn't say anything else before running towards the cliff. Robin only nodded in response as she began running towards the trees to establish a sniping position.

Jaune looked over towards Pyrrha who nodded as well. Gritting his teeth, he took out Crocea Mors and turned around.

"Hey ugly, over here!"

He immediately regretted that as the beast let out a loud screech. Gulping, he quickly broke off into a run.

Jaune didn't think that he had ever run this fast in his entire life. Pyrrha followed closely behind, taking the occasional pot shot at the large Grimm with her weapon. It didn't seem to do much other than make it angrier though.

Once they had reached the dead end by the edge of the cliff, Jaune tightened his grip on his family heirloom and held it steady in front of him. The beast swung one of its large claws, aiming straight for him.

Crocea Mors did its job, blocking the brunt of the blow, but the force behind it still managed to knock him back, sending him spiraling into the nearby rocks.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled out in worry.

Jaune blinked, trying to recollect himself. Thank god that Pyrrha had helped him unlock his Aura earlier, or that might have killed him. The red head was doing her best to hold the beast off, but she could only last so long.

Then, the flurry of arrows came.

One by one, they hit their mark. A shell of ice soon began to spread, encasing over the Deathstalker, freezing it in place. Jaune forced himself up and glanced over at the cliff.

"Now!" He shouted at Cardin.

The orange haired boy let out a loud yell as he jumped off with his mace in hand. Jaune ran at one of the nearby pincers that had been frozen in place against the wall and swung his blade, shattering the ice along with the Grimm's appendage. Pyrrha had done the same with its other pincer.

Cardin pulled the trigger on his mace, activating the Dust chamber inside, giving him even more momentum as he swung Onyx. The mace met the frozen beast with a loud crash, sending fragments of ice flying everywhere. The explosion managed to knock the bulky boy back, sending him flying into the nearby clearing.

Jaune coughed as he tried to wave away the clouds of Dust and dirt particles floating around in the air. When everything finally settled down, he let out a sigh of relief as he saw the remaining pieces of the Deathstalker begin to disintegrate.

Somehow, someway, he had managed to survive.

Pyrrha had appeared to be saying something but he couldn't make any of it out as he promptly fell over and fainted.

* * *

Ruby was insane. Zack didn't have any other word to describe it. Her plan was so over the top, so ridiculous… But, he couldn't deny the fact that it had a chance of succeeding.

"Hey Schnee," Russel held out his hand, "Give me some Dust."

"What?" Weiss questioned.

"D-U-S-T, you know that thing your family sells by screwing over everybody else?"

Weiss shot the green haired boy a heated glare, "Obviously I know what Dust is you ignoramus. The question here is that what kind of huntsman doesn't carry his own?"

Russel rolled his eyes, "It's called running out, but someone like you probably wouldn't know that feeling huh?"

"Just what is it that you are trying to insinuate?"

"That you're a-"

"Hey guys," Ruby interrupted, "Can we hurry it up before the Nevermore decides to come back?"

Weiss and Russel both gave the younger girl a brief glare before the white haired girl reached into her pocket and tossed the green haired boy a couple bottles of red colored Dust.

Russel let out a low whistle as he caught the vials and began pouring them into the chambers of his daggers, "Leave it to the Schnees to only use the high quality stuff."

Zack peeked his head out from behind the tree. The Nevermore had almost finished its circle and was beginning to come back around.

"It's coming back around." He pointed out.

Russel poured the last of the Dust in and clamped the chamber shut. He gave the chamber one good spin before he grunted in satisfaction.

"Did I already mention how stupid this plan was?" The green haired boy muttered as he stood up.

Zack sighed, "Yes, now are you going to go or are you just going to sit here and complain?"

Russel mumbled something incoherent before leaping out from the cover of the trees. The green haired boy dashed out into the open clearing and began firing his newly acquired Dust rounds at the Nevermore. Zack couldn't help but be impressed as his new partner displayed an impressive showing of agility by weaving his way around a hail of falling feathers.

"So," He glanced over at the two girls, "You guys ready?"

Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, "Of course I am."

Ruby grinned, "Yeah, let's do this guys."

They all shared a brief look before taking off after Russel. The green haired boy had done his part of the plan, and now it was their turn.

The Nevermore shot out another hail of projectiles at the green haired boy, trapping him in a circle of large black feathers. The beast then began to descend, eager to feast on its newly captured prey.

This was their chance.

Zack looked over towards Ruby who grinned and gave him a thumbs up. He only chuckled as he reached for his sword, drawing it out and holding it over his shoulder like a baseball bat.

Once he made sure that the blunt portion of the blade was facing the right way, he looked over towards the two girls once again, "Whenever you guys are ready."

Ruby glanced over at Weiss and they both nodded.

"Alright, let's do this!" Ruby shouted as she ran and jumped forward into the air.

Zack grit his teeth as he swung the blade as hard as he could, making sure that the blunt side of the sword connected with the soles of Ruby's feet. Once the blade connected, he could feel the glyph behind him add even more force into his swing as he launched the girl into the air.

As Ruby sped through the air like a speeding bullet, she began firing shots from Crescent Rose as a means to gain even more momentum.

Zack didn't waste a second as he ran after the girl with Weiss following close behind.

He couldn't help but smile when he saw Crescent Rose cut through the Nevermore, severing the monster into two different pieces. Her crazy plan had actually worked.

He kept running as the Nevermore began to disintegrate and the girl started free falling. Zack made sure to give her the biggest grin possible when he caught her in his arms. Ruby let out a sigh of relief before she grinned as well.

"We did it!" She exclaimed.

He carefully let the girl down and ruffled her hair, "We sure did. That was one sweet plan you had there."

"You know what Rose?" Russel called out as he walked over, "That was pretty badass."

Weiss had a small smile on her face as she walked over as well, "I have to admit; as ridiculous as that plan was, that was well done."

"Aww," Ruby smiled as a small blush began to appear on her face, "Stop it guys."

Zack just laughed, "How about we go get our relics now?"

* * *

"Aww, it broke," Nora complained as she hopped off the Ursa, which began to disintegrate.

Lie Ren put his arm against a nearby tree trunk as he tried to regain his breath, as well as his sanity. He had spent the past thirty minutes chasing after the orange haired girl who decided that it would be 'fun' to ride an Ursa.

"Nora. Please… Don't ever do that again."

The hyperactive girl didn't seem to pay attention as she was already dancing around at the temple ruins. Ren was a patient person, but he couldn't help but feel a vein pop in his head.

"Nora!"

"Sorry Ren!" The girl shouted back, a sheepish grin on her face.

He let out a sigh as he began to walk over towards the girl. He couldn't stay mad at his childhood friend for long. No matter what kind of crazy situation she had a habit of getting into.

"Aww Ren," Nora whimpered, "Someone took most of them already."

He took a glance around and could see that she was right. Most of the pieces had already been taken. Their little 'detour' with the Ursa ride must have taken longer than expected.

"Oh well!" Nora chirped as she quickly recovered and held up a knight piece, "At least we managed to get a pony, right?"

He couldn't help but give her a small smile, "Sure Nora."

* * *

"Blake Belladonna, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you have retrieved the white Knight pieces. From this day forward, you will together as… Team Burgundy, led by Blake Belladonna."

On the large monitor behind them, the letters 'BRNY' flashed across the screen, with each letter being under that respective person's picture. There's a series of applause before the newly formed team walked off the stage.

Zack gave Yang a grin when she walked past him. She responded with a wink.

"Jaune Arc, Cardin Winchester, Pyrrha Nikos, and Robin Snow. The four of you have retrieved the black Bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will be known as… Team Jasper, led by Jaune Arc."

Zack raised an eyebrow when he saw the surprised look on Jaune's face and the scowl on Cardin's. It seemed that not everybody agreed with Ozpin's choice for leader. The letters, 'JCPR' soon appeared on the screen and another series of applause followed.

He couldn't help but chuckle as he saw Jaune scratch his head as he walked off stage with his newly formed team. He didn't know what the blonde haired boy was so worried about before the test, everything seemed to work out fine.

"And finally…" Ozpin looks over and Zack grins as he begins to walk up on stage, his new team following close behind.

"Ruby Rose, Zack Fair, Weiss Schnee, and Russel Thrush. The four of you retrieved the white Rook pieces. From this day forward, you be known as… Team Rosewater, led by… Ruby Rose."

Zack smiled as he glanced over at the younger girl. Ruby had a surprised look on her face, but she quickly recovered and returned his smile with one of her own. Another series of applause soon followed and the letters, 'RZWR' flashed across the screen.

Russel just nonchalantly shrugged and began to walk off the stage. Weiss followed not too far behind with a disgruntled look on her face.

* * *

The new room wasn't too bad, although it was a little on the small side. Zack didn't have too much of a problem with it though. The girl's beds were on one side of the room while he and Russel's were on the other.

He stifled a yawn as he glanced out the window. The shattered moon hanging in the night sky was a sight that he didn't think that he would ever get used to. The rest of his newly formed team had immediately gone to bed after the ceremony and he didn't blame them. They had lecture first thing in the morning tomorrow and it had been an exciting day to say the least.

Zack couldn't help but grimace at the word lecture. Angeal's lectures had definitely left their mark on him. He sighed as he glanced up at the moon once again. It had been a little over two months now, and he was about as close to finding a way back as when he first woke up here. He was starting to think that he would never find a way back.

Shaking his head, he reached for the night light next to his bed and snuffed it out. Tomorrow was going to be the start of an exciting new life; he might as well get some sleep for it.

* * *

Author's Notes-

You know, now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever written 20k words this quickly in my entire life. Hopefully the quality hasn't suffered for it. Anyway, so now that we've had some more slight divergences from canon, the show can really begin! As usual, thanks for all the feedback!

Reviews-

98Kazer- Nah, I don't plan on giving him the fusion sword, that's Cloud's weapon and I don't want to just copy and paste that onto Zack.

Keyslinger Roxas- Probably not, if anything it'd probably look a bit more high tech, like Qrows?

Guest- It sounds interesting, but I wouldn't know how to incorporate that into the story. I feel like I'm already stretching it as it is with just having him magically fall through a portal into Remnant.

Spartan Commando- Wings huh? The thing is, would he even want them at this point in the game? With how everyone around him raves on about wings and monsters I mean. The symbolism for wings seems to change for Zack throughout the events of Crisis Core, but he hasn't gone through those events yet.

Hammerstrikes219KIA- I probably won't, never been a big fan of Sephiroth. He's cool and all but not my cup of tea.

The Baz- Huh, can't say that I've heard that before, I'll do some research on it. I wouldn't say that Pyrrha wouldn't stand a chance, her semblance is pretty useful against fighters that rely on weapons.

Kain541204- I know what you mean. I don't really have any of that stuff really planned out yet. I mean, if pairings happen along the flow of the story, then they happen. If they don't, then they don't. I don't really want to force anything and instead would rather let things naturally play out and if the characters react in that way in my headcanon, then they do, and if they don't, then they don't.

PersonaQeminod1- I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Anyway, that seems to be it for the questions. For everyone else that reviewed to show some support, thanks! Hopefully I'll see everyone next chapter~

-SFX


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

Welcome to School

* * *

Weiss couldn't help but think that Professor Port's lecture might have been one of the most boring things that she had ever had the displeasure of listening to in her life. But, she was a Schnee, and Schnees held themselves up to higher standards than others. So, with a great deal of effort, she continued to meticulously scribble down notes.

Though, the constant noises coming from the rest of her team was making it extremely difficult to concentrate. She narrowed her eyes as she glanced over at the two boys of team Rosewater, both of whom were laid out over their desks. And if the slight drool that was dripping out from Zack's mouth was any indication, the two were most likely fast asleep.

When another giggle erupted from her right side, she had to stop herself from almost snapping her pencil in frustration. Their 'leader', the person that was supposed to set the bar for the rest of the team, was too busy drawing stupid little doodles instead of actually paying attention in class. The headmaster had to have made a mistake in choosing that _child_ as leader over someone like herself.

Naturally, when Professor Port had requested a volunteer to demonstrate the traits that were the 'embodiment of a huntsman', she raised her hand.

"Ah, wonderful Ms. Schnee!" The professor applauded, "Then please, step forward and meet your opponent!"

She began to settle into a familiar stance. Head up, shoulders back, and right foot forward, a series of movements that she had practiced for hours on end until perfection.

"Alright!" Professor Port announced as he pulled off a cloak, revealing a large cage that was currently housing a lone Grimm, "Let's begin!"

The professor brought his axe down, cutting open the lock and the door popped open. A small Boarbatusk began to lumber forward. Weiss steadied her breathing and drew her rapier back, waiting for the boar like Grimm to begin its charge.

"Alright! Go Weiss!" Ruby cheered.

Weiss grit her teeth in frustration, "Ruby! I am _trying_ to concentrate!"

"Oh…" The younger girl seemed to deflate, "Sorry…"

And then the beast began its charge.

* * *

"Stop telling me what to do!"

Zack couldn't help but flinch at Weiss's tone of voice. He glanced over towards his team leader and saw that she seemed to deflate even more.

"Frigid bitch, ain't she?" Russel muttered.

Zack ignored him and gave his leader a pat on the shoulder.

"She'll warm up eventually."

Ruby gave him a weak smile and nodded. He returned the smile with one of his own before turning his attention back towards the battle.

Weiss stopped the beast in its tracks with a well-timed glyph and blasted it backwards. Casting another glyph under her, she launched forward and ran the Grimm through with her rapier, finishing the fight.

"Splendid!" Professor Port boomed, "Bravo! It appears that we indeed are in the presence of a true huntress in training! Though, I'm afraid that will be all the time we have left for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, class dismissed!"

Weiss stormed off, leaving the room in a hurry.

"Hey guys," Ruby began, "I'm going to go talk to Weiss. You guys can go back to the dorm without me."

"Alright," Zack gave her a thumbs up, "Good luck."

The younger girl gave a quick wave before dashing off. Zack glanced over at Russel who just shrugged before standing up as well.

"Ah, Mr. Fair and Mr. Thrush, a moment of your time please."

Zack raised an eyebrow as Professor Port sauntered over.

"I understand that lectures and such can be boring at times, why I was once a strapping young man as well!" The professor excitedly began before catching himself and pausing, "Ah, but that's a story for another time. Anyway, do try to avoid falling asleep next time alright? You never know when this knowledge can come in handy in your future as a huntsman."

He wasn't sure if the Professor's ramblings about his life story would ever be useful in the future, but he nodded anyway while Russel muttered a 'yes sir'.

"Excellent!

* * *

97, 98, 99, 100.

Zack wiped the sweat off his brow as he completed his last squat. With most of his team out doing their own thing, he had decided to head over to the gym and get some training in. Glancing at the clock on the wall, he could see that it read 6:30.

After giving his legs one good stretch, he grabbed his jacket and began heading back towards the dorm. Wearing a jacket would take some getting used to; he'd worn the standard sleeveless SOLDIER sweaters for so long that it felt weird to have sleeves. The uniform wasn't too bad though he supposed. Other than the tie, trying to tie the damn thing was a challenge in itself.

He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he saw Ruby sitting alone in the hallway outside of their room.

"Uh, Ruby?" He asked, "Why are you sitting outside?"

The younger girl sighed, "Wait for it…"

His eyebrow rose even higher and as he was about to ask her what she meant by that, the loud yelling coming from inside their room caught his attention. Tentatively reaching for the doorknob, he turned it open…

"You're nothing but a thug!"

"And you're just a spoiled brat!"

He couldn't help but flinch at the volume before quickly shutting the door.

"Uh, how long have they been arguing?"

Ruby sighed again, "For the past twenty minutes."

He scratched the back of his head.

"Well, how about we just come back later then and see if they can sort it out themselves," He held his hand out, "Want to go get dinner?"

She gave him a small grin before taking his hand and pulling herself up.

"Sure, Zack."

* * *

"So, where do you want to sit Ruby?"

The younger girl took a glance around the cafeteria.

"Oh, there's Jaune!" She pointed out, "Let's go sit with him."

Zack simply nodded as he trailed behind his team leader. Jaune was sitting with another red haired girl, the same one that he recognized from the cereal box. When the blonde haired boy noticed their presence, he waved them over.

"Hey Jaune!" Ruby happily greeted as she took a seat across from the blonde.

"Hey Ruby, Zack. How're you guys doing?" Jaune questioned as he reached for the salt shaker, "Oh and guys, this is my teammate, Pyrrha."

"Hello there!" Pyrrha happily waved.

Zack gave her a smile as he took a seat next to his team leader.

"Hey, aren't you on the Pumpkin Pete's box?" Ruby asked with her eyes wide.

"Yeah, that's me."

"Wow, that's so cool!" His team leader gushed.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool," The red haired girl sheepishly grinned, "Sadly, the cereal isn't that good for you."

"Hey Jaune," Zack casually began, "Where's the rest of your team?"

The blonde haired boy glanced over at his partner and they both shared a sigh.

"I guess you could say that," Jaune began to scratch the back of his head, "We're having some team 'difficulties'."

Zack couldn't help but chuckle, "You guys too?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Wait what? How could you guys be having any trouble? You guys got the highest score on the initiation test!"

Ruby sighed, "Let's just say that Russel and Weiss don't exactly get along."

Zack snorted, "Yeah, that's kind of an understatement. They've been at each other's throats since they've met. What about you guys?"

"Well…" Jaune hesitantly began, "Robin said she wasn't hungry. And as for Cardin, well... He's kind of…"

"A prick?" A cheery voice called out.

"Yang!" Ruby happily greeted.

Yang ruffled her sister's hair as she took a seat.

"Sort of…?" Jaune answered before giving the girl a grin, "But, putting Cardin aside. _Hello_ there gorgeous, the names Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, and ladies love it."

Yang just laughed and tossed a bread loaf at the blonde's face, "Easy there lady-killer, how about you go and work on your pick up lines first and try again?"

"What?! But I spent weeks working on that!" The blonde boy exasperated.

Everyone at the table shared a chuckle.

"Hey sis, where's your team?" Ruby began, "Don't tell me you're having team problems too…"

"Nah, we're all cool with each other," Yang answered as she began to dig into her meal, "Ren and Nora already ate, and Blake wanted to finish her book, so here I am."

Jaune gave a sad smile, "At least someone's team isn't dysfunctional."

"You guys worry too much," The blonde girl nonchalantly replied in between bites of food, "I'm sure everything's gonna work out in the end."

Ruby sighed as she stabbed her fork into her noodles, "I hope so sis…"

* * *

Zack whistled a tune as he trailed behind his team leader. After they had finished eating, everyone went their separate ways, heading back to their respective rooms.

"Hey Ruby," He began, "So, did you and Weiss get things sorted out?"

He couldn't help but grimace as the younger girl drooped her head down in despair. Perhaps he shouldn't have asked that.

"No…" Ruby replied with a tired tone, "Weiss… She doesn't think I should have been made leader."

Zack raised an eyebrow at that. He supposed that explained the disgruntled look on the white haired girl's face at the initiation ceremony.

"Why? I think you're a great leader, I mean you were the one that thought of the plan to bring down that Nevermore."

She gave him a small smile.

"Thanks Zack, that means a lot. But Weiss doesn't think so," The younger girl sighed, "I think that she wanted to be the leader."

Zack scratched the back of his head. He'd never dealt with team issues before, so he wasn't sure how he wanted to tackle this situation. Most of the guy's back at SOLDIER never really had problems with one another, and if they did, a higher ranking officer would quickly sort the issue out. He and Angeal never had any issues either, and while Kunsel's personality could prove to be kind of annoying at times, they still got along well enough whenever they were sent on joint missions. Hell, even he and Tseng never had any problems, and the Turk was one of the gloomiest guys he had ever met.

Eventually, he settled for giving the younger girl a pat on the back, "Well, like your sister said, I'm sure things will work out in the end."

"If you say so…" The girl's gloomy tone of voice didn't exactly show that she had put much faith in his words.

Truth be told, he didn't really believe them himself. Trying to imagine Weiss and Russel getting along was well… It was like trying to imagine oil and water mixing.

When he opened the door to their room, he was surprised to see that the place was still in one piece. From the way the two were arguing earlier, he kind of expected some furniture to be moving.

"Hey guys…" The younger girl behind him tentatively greeted.

Weiss stopped writing and glanced up from her notes, "Hello Ruby, Zack."

"Hey Weiss, Russel," He greeted and gave a smile as he walked over to his bed.

Russel only responded with a grunt, not bothering to move from his position on his bed facing the wall. At the very least, it seemed that the two of them had finally finished their argument, whatever it was about.

Sitting down on the edge of his mattress, he couldn't help but frown. The tension in the air seemed to be so thick that he thought it was actually starting to become visible to the human eye. For a while, the only sounds that could be heard were the occasional scratch marks of pencil and paper.

He scratched the back of his head and glanced over to his team leader. Ruby seemed to be faring no better as her eyes constantly darted back and forth between the white haired heiress and the green haired boy.

"So, what did you guy's think about the first day of school?"

He couldn't help but grimace when no one immediately responded. Awkward.

"I thought it was pretty cool," Ruby helpfully chimed in, "Weiss… you were pretty awesome when you beat that Boarbatusk," The younger girl hesitantly added.

To his surprise, Weiss actually smiled at the compliment. Had the two girls actually reached an understanding?

"Why thank you Ruby," The white haired girl replied in earnest, "As for my day, I suppose it was satisfactory."

Zack grinned; maybe things actually would work out.

"What about you Russel?" Zack asked as he glanced over towards the other boy.

"It was alright," Russel gruffly replied, "Would have been better if it weren't for a certain Ice Queen."

And back out the window his hopes went.

"What did you just call me you cur?"

He flinched at how cold Weiss could sound. Glancing over at Ruby he could see her sigh. He couldn't help but do the same.

It seemed like it was going to be a long night.

* * *

The next couple of days had gone by in a bit of a blur. Zack would go to class, do some training, eat, and then rinse and repeat. Somewhere along the line, Ruby and Weiss had sorted out their differences, and seemed to be getting along quite well. He had an inkling that Ozpin must've said something to one of the two, but he wasn't really sure and quite frankly he didn't really care as long as two girls got along now.

He and Russel never really had too many problems to begin with. While the other boy's snarky nature could get on his nerves at times, they were able to keep a cordial relationship. He had a feeling that Russel held a little bit more respect for him than the boy did for everyone else since he had saved the green haired boy's life back at the initiation. He wouldn't say that they were exactly friends, but they were the very least teammates.

Russel and Ruby didn't have too many issues either, though they didn't seem to interact much unless he was present. And he and Weiss got along pretty nicely as well, though there weren't many people in the world Zack couldn't get along with. He wasn't someone that made too many enemies.

But, as for Russel and Weiss. Well… Things hadn't changed much. The fights had lessened in quantity, and they appeared to at least pretend to be cordial to one another when the entire team was present, most of the time anyway. But, if the two were ever alone in the same room…

At the very least, they weren't the only team that was having issues. From what he had seen, Team Jasper had problems of their own to deal with. Robin and Cardin obviously had issues with one another. But, otherwise the Faunus girl seemed to get along well with the rest of the team. But, from what he had heard from Russel, the orange haired boy wasn't exactly very fond with his team.

The sounds of metal clashing against metal snapped him out of his thoughts. He couldn't help but flinch as he saw Russel send Jaune flying across the arena. The blonde haired boy let out a groan.

"And that is the match," Glynda Goodwitch announced as she stepped in between the two fighters, "Students, as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has dropped into the red, and in a tournament styled match, this would indicate that Mr. Arc is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match."

"Tch, our 'leaders' a total clown," Cardin scoffed.

"Cardin!" Pyrrha shot the orange haired boy a glare.

"What? It's true," The bulky bot shot back, "He hasn't won a single match yet! Hell, I don't think I've even seen him even land a single blow!"

Zack gave Russel a playful punch in the arm as the green haired boy walked back over towards the team, "Hey, nice fight man."

"Yeah Russel, you didn't even take a single hit!" Ruby happily exclaimed.

"Relax guys, it wasn't much," Russel replied as he dusted himself off, "It was against Arc anyway, you'd have to be a fool to not be able to win."

"Are you somehow suggesting that you aren't a fool?" An icy voice added.

Russel glared at the white haired girl while Zack and Ruby just sighed. They didn't get into as many fights as much as before, but snarky exchanges like those were still commonplace.

"Alright class, we have time for one more sparring match," Professor Goodwitch announced as she flicked through her scroll, "How about… Ms. Nikos and… Mr. Fair. You have both been undefeated in your matches thus far, so this will be good practice for you two in preparation for the Vytal tournament."

Russel let out a low whistle, "Whew, the invincible girl against our very own wonder boy over here?"

Zack raised an eyebrow, "Uh, wonder boy?"

Russel just shrugged.

"That's what people have been saying. The 'wondrous boy with no Aura'," Russel made sure to exaggerate the term with hand motions.

Zack couldn't help but sweat drop at that as he made his way down to the arena. He wasn't sure if he liked that nickname, he probably preferred Yang's to that one…

"Go Zack!" Ruby cheered from her seat up on the rafters.

He gave her and the rest of his team a wave as he stepped onto the stage. Pyrrha Nikos gave him a small smile and a bow that he returned with one of his own.

From what he had seen from her matches, the girl was good. He didn't think that he saw a single person land a hit on her throughout all of her matches. Invincible girl indeed.

"As I've said before, Mr. Fair has no Aura and thus he will be deemed unable to fight when I decide it, otherwise standard rules will apply."

He reached behind his shoulder and grabbed the hilt of his sword, pulling it out in one smooth motion. He had managed to dodge his team leader enough so far that he was still able to keep his Shinra blade, though with the tenacity that the girl pestered him with, he'd run out of excuses soon enough.

He gripped his sword in a two handed style as the girl across from him took out her weapon, a javelin along with a bronze colored buckler shield.

"Let the match begin!"

For a moment, nobody moved. He studied the girl, just as the girl studied him. Boring standoffs were never really his style though so he grinned and launched himself at the red haired girl.

Bringing his sword overhead, he pulled the blade down. Pyrrha easily caught the sword with her buckler before bringing her javelin back and stabbing it forward. Zack side stepped it and jumped back, creating some distance.

He glanced at his weapon before looking over at her shield. He couldn't put a finger on it, but something seemed off. The girl didn't give him a chance to mull over it as she pressed forward.

The javelin followed with a series of thrusts. He parried them, one after the other before sweeping his blade forward. The Shinra weapon harmlessly bounced off the girl's shield as she thrust the spear forward once more, nicking him across the cheek.

Zack jumped backwards, creating some distance once again and frowned. Something was definitely off here.

* * *

Weiss Schnee didn't take her eyes off the fight as she watched Pyrrha continue to press her advantage.

"Wow, I didn't know Pyrrha was so strong." Ruby commented, wide eyed.

Weiss had to stop herself from snorting. Of course Pyrrha Nikos was strong, she was Pyrrha Nikos! You didn't become the four time champion of the Mistral tournament without being strong. You didn't get the moniker, the 'invincible girl' without being strong. Instead, what was surprising to her was how good her teammate was.

She had never heard of Zack Fair before, and it was strange how someone so skilled could have been under the radar for so long. From his carefree attitude, the boy never gave off the vibe of being a powerhouse, but she supposed that Pyrrha Nikos was the same. If you had never heard of the girl before and met her, you wouldn't expect the strength that she possessed either.

"Don't think I've ever seen Fair get pushed back until now," Russel added.

"Well, what do you expect," She folded her arms over her chest, "He's going against a four time champion that's never lost a match before. He's doing well already by lasting this long."

"Go Zack, you can do it!" Ruby cheered on, "Come on guys, let's cheer him on!"

Ruby grabbed her arm and Russel's as well and lifted them both in the air.

She glanced over towards the green haired boy who sighed. For once, she had to agree with the idiot and sighed as well. Well, she supposed that she could humor the girl.

"Show her what you can do Zack!" She called out.

Truth be told, she didn't think Zack could win but she decided to go along with Ruby. She _had_ promised the girl that she would be a better teammate after all.

Her eyes widened when she saw the black haired boy stab his sword into the ground before leaving it behind entirely.

"Uh, did Fair just drop his weapon?" Russel asked with a raised eyebrow.

Just what was he thinking?

* * *

Zack grit his teeth as he dashed at her and thrust his sword forward, only for the blade to harmlessly bounce off the girl's buckler once again as she returned the attack with a thrust of her own. He narrowly dodged it and brought his sword back up again, going for a feint. The girl brought her buckler up in defense once more, only this time he didn't complete the swing and instead went for a kick.

Knocking the shield away with his boot, he tightened the grip on his sword and swung it in a sweeping motion. The blow didn't connect though as he felt the sword lurch slightly forward in another direction as the girl gracefully ducked under it and jumped back, running towards her shield.

He frowned as he watched the girl pick up her buckler. There it was again, that feeling that something was pulling against his weapon. That hit should have definitely connected, he was sure of it. Zack didn't want to brag but he was pretty confident in his skills, there weren't many people out there that could fight him one on one without taking a single blow. The only name that could come to mind was Sephiroth, and that was only because he was the greatest hero of all time… For now anyway.

The girl pressed a button and the javelin transformed into a rifle. She took aim and pulled the trigger. He easily deflected the bullets and dashed forward once again. He went for another feint, but this time instead of going for a kick, he reached for the dagger by his side and thrust it forward. Once again, he felt something tug at the weapon. Only this time, he didn't miss the slight glow on the girl's finger tips as she spun out of the way and smashed the shield into his side, throwing him back.

So, that was it. He wasn't imaging it; her semblance was causing that pull he felt on his sword. Magnetism perhaps? Whatever it was, he wouldn't be able to fight her with conventional weapons.

He grabbed at his ribs, they stung like hell but they weren't broken. The Mako would take care of the pain soon enough.

Twirling his sword once, he stabbed it down into the floor, tossing the dagger next to it. Pyrrha's eyes widened in surprise.

He grinned as he cracked his right knuckle once and got into a boxing stance. Luckily for him, he happened to be one of the better hand to hand fighters in SOLDIER.

* * *

Author's Notes-

Expositions! Fights! Yeah that's what we like to see! So, our new teams begin to figure out that getting everyone to all get along isn't always so easy. Oh and Pyrrha and Zack go at it. That's always fun, right?

Reviews-

Xanothos- What can I say? I don't enjoy rehashing canon like most people seem to like doing, ah ha.

Flamelegendvargas- Oh yeah, I got big plans for the summons, big plans.

Thunder Dragon- Team drama? Oh yeah, that's definitely going to be there.

Cired Eiyuu- I actually thought about that, but it seemed kind of a little too... plain I guess?

The Baz- Isn't that a fictional metal? Would that even exist on Remnant?

PersonaQeminod1- You mean the S-cells? If you do, then no, Zack doesn't have them until the whole Hojo lab fiasco happens in the game.

RoyalToLoyal- Glad you liked the story. I mean I don't hate the guy, I actually thought he was pretty cool until the whole... you know, insanity thing. I can see the appeal though, just not my thing.

HammerStrikes219KIA- Huh, how would that even work? Aren't the people in Bleach, you know, dead? Like they can't be seen by the living and stuff? I dropped that show a while ago so I wouldn't know.

Blackwolf249- That sounds pretty cool actually.

Anyway, as usual thanks for the reviews! Hopefully I'll see everyone and more next chapter~

-SFX


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

History Lesson

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos was good. She was different compared to the other students that he had faced so far. The others weren't bad fighters per say, but they seemed to be inexperienced when it came to fighting actual people instead of Grimm. They would often telegraph their attacks, and while that was fine when fighting against the Grimm, against any half decent fighter, they'd be lucky to even land a single hit.

Pyrrha Nikos was different in that regard, she fought like someone that had experience. Every movement that she would make, every attack that she would take, they were quick and refined. Whether it was to press her range advantage with the javelin, or to parry a blow with her buckler, there were no wasted movements. Add in her ability to manipulate another person's weapon, and he wasn't surprised that she had never lost a duel before.

It was a good thing for him that Angeal had given him all those hand to hand combat lessons. His former mentor never did like using the Buster sword, preferring to fight with his fists unless absolutely necessary.

" _Use brings about wear, tear, and rust. And that's a real waste."_

He couldn't help but chuckle at the fond memory as he brought his right hand up and wiped away the blood on his cheek. With a grin, he launched himself at the red haired girl.

The red head responded by thrusting Miló forward. He dodged it by leaping into the air, performing a front flip, and then finishing with an overhead kick. She jumped out of the way and his boot smashed into the ground, leaving a small crater in the floor.

His eyes widened when he saw the girl's arm rear back, throwing her shield. He quickly ducked as the buckler whizzed past him. The girl took this chance and rushed forward, thrusting the javelin at his chest.

He sidestepped it and caught the spear in between his left arm and his side. The girl's eyes widened in surprise as he brought his right fist up and slugged her across the face, sending her flying across the arena. It was a clean hit, but her Aura easily took the brunt of the blow.

What Zack hadn't accounted for was for the buckler to come flying back as it smashed into the back of his head. He could already feel the migraine beginning to come on as his head continued to ring. He had forgotten about her ability to control metal. If Angeal were here, the older man would have probably chided him for losing his focus.

Zack twirled Miló once before stabbing it deep into the ground, and for good measure he kicked the shield away as well. He wasn't going to let her get her weapons back now that he finally had the girl at a disadvantage. Pyrrha gingerly stood back up and took a glance at her javelin before beginning to settle into a hand to hand fighter's stance of her own. If she wanted her weapon back, she was going to have to go through him to get it.

Getting into fist fights with ladies weren't really his thing. But then again, neither was losing.

* * *

Weiss couldn't help but watch on in awe as her black haired teammate continued to land blow after blow on the champion of Mistral. Weiss could tell that once Zack had managed to disarm the red head, the match was all but over. The boy had shown that he was as good at hand to hand combat as he was in his swordsmanship. Pyrrha Nikos was no slouch in hand to hand combat either, but even a novice could see that in terms of skill, they were leagues apart.

She watched on as Zack landed another punch through the red head's guard, only allowing herself to blink when her eyes began to sting. She spared a quick glance over towards the monitor and saw that Pyrrha's Aura bar was continuing to dwindle. At this point, it was only a matter of time.

A final kick to the stomach sent the red head flying, signaling the end of the match.

"And that is the match!" Professor Goodwitch announced as she stepped onto the arena, "The winner of this sparring match is Zack Fair! That was quite an impressive showing Mr. Fair."

Weiss couldn't help but laugh, to think that someone could have beaten the champion of Mistral, and that 'that someone' was on her team. Initially, Weiss had wanted Pyrrha Nikos on her team, and was sorely disappointed when she found out that the red head was on Jaune's team. But now, she couldn't care less. With the strength that Zack had demonstrated and her intelligence, they would definitely be touted as the best team in all of Beacon now.

Russel let out a low whistle, "Well damn, Fair actually beat the 'invincible girl'," The boy shot her a smirk, "Looks like you were wrong again Schnee."

She rolled her eyes. Normally she would have snapped at the boy, but for once, she couldn't help but be glad that she was wrong.

"Of course Zack won!" Ruby proudly stated, "He wouldn't let the team down!"

"Now, remember everyone, the Vytal Festival is only two months away," Glynda Goodwitch began, "It won't be long before students from the other kingdoms start arriving in Vale, so keep practicing. Class dismissed!"

There was no way that they were going to lose in the Vytal tournament now. She would make Winter proud.

* * *

Zack let out a sigh of relief as he finally stepped out of the infirmary. Professor Goodwitch had insisted that he go to the infirmary to get his injuries treated. Attempting to argue with her was futile so he simply nodded. He couldn't help but scratch at the bandages that they had wrapped around his head. The wound had already mostly healed due to the Mako in his system, but the nurse wouldn't take no for an answer.

"You shouldn't fiddle with the bandages Zack."

He glanced over at the white haired girl that was waiting in the middle of the hallway. The professor had requested that one of team RZWR accompany him to the infirmary, and to his surprise, she had the one to volunteer.

"It's not like I needed them anyway," He replied, "It wasn't even that bad of a cut. Head injuries just bleed too much, even for the shallowest wounds."

"You should know how medical personal don't like taking chances with people that don't have an Aura," Weiss paused and gave him a curious look, "You know, you've never told us why you don't have an Aura."

Zack just shrugged, "Could never get it unlocked. Want to go meet up with the rest of the team for lunch?"

Luckily for him, other than another curious glance, the girl didn't keep pressing the issue. Lying was never exactly his favorite past-time.

"I suppose," Weiss reluctantly agreed as she began to start walking.

He trailed behind her and took out his scroll. After sending a text to the rest of the team, he put the device back into his pocket and threw his hands behind his head.

"Hey, Weiss-"

"So, Zack-"

They both paused and Zack chuckled, "Why don't you go first. You know, ladies first and all that."

"Alright, I was just wondering. You and Ruby knew each other beforehand, right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, we lived together."

She raised an eyebrow, "You two are related?"

"Nah," He gave a sheepish grin, "I kind of just freeloaded off them for a few months."

"Hmm… I see," The girl gave another curious look as she crossed her arms over her chest, "So, you aren't from Patch then?"

"Nope, I'm... from a small settlement outside of the walls," He evenly replied.

"Ah, that explains why I've never heard of you before," Weiss paused, "Anyway, what were you going to say?"

"Uh, about that…" Zack scratched the back of his head, "I was just wondering if you and Russel… Could you know, try to get along?"

Weiss narrowed her eyes, "It's not my fault that he's an annoying aggravating idiot."

"Yeah, I know he's not exactly the nicest guy around, but you haven't exactly been very… friendly with him either. And we're a team now, there's going to be problems later down the road if we don't do something about this now."

She scoffed, "Please Zack, I may not like him but I'm still a huntress. Well, a huntress in training, but you get the idea. When it comes to missions, I won't let my personal feelings get in the way."

He sighed, "Look, I don't know if you noticed, but when you two have your fights, it's not exactly pleasant to be around. I'm pretty sure it bothers Ruby even more since she's the leader of the team. I'm not asking you to go and be his friend or anything, just… Can you guys at least try to get along?"

Weiss frowned but didn't say anything more. They continued down the hallway towards the cafeteria in silence.

"Alright," The white haired girl sighed, "I will _attempt_ to 'try to get along' with that idio-, I mean Russel."

Zack gave her a smile, "Thanks Weiss, I'll try to talk to him about it too."

"You don't have to thank me," The girl sighed again, "I'll admit, I haven't exactly been the best teammate. I did give Ruby a hard time about her leadership skills for a while."

"Hey, but look at you guys now! You two are like best friends!"

Weiss smiled at the thought, "Yes, I suppose you're right. We are indeed friends now."

Zack couldn't help but stare.

"…Is there something wrong Zack?" The white haired girl questioned.

"Nah," He grinned, "I was just thinking."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, "About what?"

"I was just thinking about how cute your smile was. You should smile more often Weiss."

"W-w-what?" The girl managed to stutter out.

He laughed when a small blush began to settle on the girl's cheeks.

"H-hey, what's so funny?!"

"Oh, nothing," He chuckled, "Come on, I see Ruby and Russel waiting at the table. Let's go, I'm starving!"

Weiss blinked.

"W-wait Zack! Wait for me!"

* * *

"Now, Mr. Arc and Mr. Winchester, you two can see me after class for additional readings. As for everyone else, class is dismissed! Remember to do your readings!" Doctor Oobleck announced.

Zack stifled a yawn as he stood up from his seat. Having to stay behind after the last class of the day was never fun. And while reading wasn't as bad as doing paperwork, it still wasn't too high on his list of enjoyable activities. Good thing Russel had given him a shove when he began to doze off. They had learned their lesson when it came to falling asleep in class after Professor Port's 'life lessons'.

He gave his arms a good stretch before heading out.

"I'll see you guys later," Zack gave his team a wave, "I'm going to go do some training."

"Okay Zack!" A happy voice chirped.

"Alright, I'll see you back at the dorm then Zack." Followed by another more subdued one.

He was a creature of habit. Once he had established a routine, it was something that he enjoyed following.

"I'll come with you Fair."

Zack raised an eyebrow at the green haired boy before giving a nonchalant shrug.

He threw his arms behind his head and began to whistle a tune. Russel trailed alongside him and the two boys walked in silence.

Aside from a few other students, the training room was mostly empty. They walked over to an empty corner of the room and he began doing some squats. The green haired boy took out his daggers and watched.

"Hey Fair," Russel began, "How about a spar?"

He stopped squatting and raised an eyebrow, "Uh… Sure?"

Russel began to settle into a stance and he reached over his shoulder. Pulling out the Shinra sword in one smooth motion, he gripped it in his usual two hand style.

The green haired boy made the first move and launched himself forward. Russel attacked with a flurry of strikes. Russel was quick, but compared to fighting against someone like Qrow, the boy might have well been moving in slow motion.

He easily parried the other boy's attacks and began to return with strikes of his own. Russel did a good job in parrying the initial blows, but eventually, his strength overpowered the green haired boy and he smashed through his guard, sending the boy flying towards the ground.

Zack walked over to the fallen boy and held out his hand, "Good match."

Russel scoffed before reaching to take his hand, "Yeah right, you weren't even trying Fair."

Zack pulled the boy up and shrugged, "Hey, that doesn't change the fact that it was a good workout. So, why the sudden interesting in sparring?"

Russel bent down and picked up his daggers, strapping them back to his sides.

"Just wanted to see where I stood. Most of my matches have been jokes so far, the only real opponent that I got was Nikos, and we all know how that turned out," Russel rolled his eyes, "How'd you get so strong anyway Fair?"

"A lot of training," He paused, "And I guess… My mentor."

The green haired boy raised an eyebrow as he dusted himself off, "A mentor huh? He must've been one hell of a mentor then, if you're good enough to beat the 'invincible girl' anyway."

"Yeah, I guess he was…"

"Something happen?"

Zack sighed, "You could say that."

Russel gave him a long look before shrugging, "Whatever, it ain't my business to go prying anyway."

He cracked a rueful smile, "The story's not that interesting anyway. Enough about me though, let's talk about you."

Russel raised an eyebrow once again, "What about me?"

"Not just you, you and Weiss."

The green haired boy scowled, "What about the Ice Queen."

"You two need to stop fighting," Zack crossed his arms over his chest, "It's bad for the team."

Russel scoffed, "Tell her to stop being such a frigid bitch then."

"I already talked to her. And now I'm talking to you Russel, you two need to cut this crap out before this stuff ends up screwing the team over in the future."

Russel gave him a hard look but otherwise said nothing.

"Look, you said you owed me for saving you back in the forest right?" Zack began, "Just think of it as repaying the favor. It's not like I'm asking you to be her friend, just to stop going at each other's necks all the time."

Russel remained quiet for a while before finally sighing, "Fine. You really had to pick one of the most annoying ways to cash in that debt though, huh?"

"Hey, get to know her a bit and who knows, you two might end up being friends."

"Hah," The green haired boy scoffed, "Yeah, unlikely."

Zack rolled his eyes, "What's your problem with Weiss anyway."

"She's a spoiled brat and a frigid bitch."

"You're not exactly personality of the year material either man."

"I know that," Russel muttered, "Look, I'm not from a well off family alright? When I see someone that has everything handed to them on a shiny silver platter, it gets on my nerves. You can call me petty or whatever, but that's how it is."

Zack frowned, "She might not have money problems, but I'm sure she has her own issues to deal with."

"Yeah, I'm sure," The green haired boy sarcastically mumbled.

"Man, you can't be so judgmental," Zack sighed, "You're the same way with Robin."

Russel glared, "You don't know anything about me Fair."

He blinked at the other boy's sudden change in demeanor. Every time that he would bring up Robin, it would always happen. Honestly, at this point he was getting tired of it.

"What do you think I'm trying to do right now?" Zack shot back, "I can't know about what you don't want to say."

"I already told you," Russel clenched his fists, "She's a damn Faunus."

"And?" Zack tossed his hands up into the air in exasperation, "Why do you hate Faunus so damn much?"

"The White Fang," Russel spat out bitterly.

Zack blinked as he let his arms down slowly.

"Who are the White Fang?"

"You don't know?" Russel scoffed, "Of course you wouldn't know."

Zack frowned, "Are you going to tell me or not?"

"They're scum," The green haired boy's voice was laced with venom, "They're a Faunus terrorist group that get their kicks from attacking humans."

"So what, there's always going to be bad guys out there. Just because they happen to be Faunus doesn't mean that all of them are like that."

"I know that," Russel angrily shot back, "And I don't care."

"What? That's just-"

"Ignorant? Narrow-minded?" Russel interrupted, "Yeah, and I don't care."

Zack frowned as he watched the other boy begin to walk away. He ran over and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Wait Russel, we're not done talking."

The green haired boy stopped and glanced over his shoulder.

"Let me tell you a story Fair," Russel began in a low whisper, "There was once a boy, his older sister, and their parents. They didn't have much, but they were at the very least content. The parents worked at a little restaurant at the edge of town."

Russel paused and took a breath, "Then one day, the boy came home from school to find his sister a crying mess. Turns out that the White Fang attacked the restaurant, bombed the place and then gunned down any survivors. And just like that, no more mom and dad."

Zack drew his hand back, his eyes wide, "Russel, I-"

"I don't want your pity Fair," The green haired boy evenly replied, "There won't be any more problems with me and Schnee, so we're done here."

"Do you know why they attacked?" He called out as he watched the green haired boy begin to leave.

Russel let out a bitter laugh but didn't stop walking.

"The owner of the restaurant didn't allow Faunus at his place. Apparently that means it's alright to go in and gun down every unlucky bastard there huh?"

Zack let out a sigh as he watched his teammate leave the room. He didn't agree with his partner, but he could at least see where the boy was coming from now. The thing that bothered him was the boy's attitude about the whole thing. Two wrongs didn't make a right, hatred would just breed more hatred. He had learned at least that much from that stupid war in Wutai.

Initially, he hadn't given the war much thought. They were going to supply Mako to the people of Wutai; it would make people's lives better. When the Wutai forces had attacked without warning; that was the start of the war. The war went on for a while and he'd hear stories about it, even lose some friends in it as he progressed through the ranks in SOLDIER. Wutai was losing gradually, but they wouldn't give in, their troops always fought to the last man standing. SOLDIER wasn't sent in until the very end, as the final nail in the coffin of a long dead animal that didn't want to stay buried.

Zack wasn't a hateful person, but he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a sense of retribution when he began his assault on Fort Tamblin. He'd lost a lot of friends because of Wutai, and he finally had his chance to pay them back. His job was to be the decoy, to wreck as much havoc within the fort as possible. The fact that Director Lazard would be watching was only icing on the cake.

And he definitely had his fun. They didn't stand a chance. Like a hurricane, he had torn his way through the fortress. He'd cut down dozens of Wutai troops that night, and he hadn't had a single thought of remorse. At that time, the only thoughts that ran through his mind were whether or not the Director would promote him after the mission.

Then, he ran into the Crescent Unit.

" _What do you know of the pain we have suffered?"_

" _Shinra has continually brought fear and oppression to the innocent people of Wutai!"_

" _Does it bring you joy to torture innocent people?"_

After that, he didn't look at things the same way anymore. Everything wasn't so black and white. Suddenly, Wutai wasn't so evil and Shinra wasn't so good anymore. He still cut them down though, he was still a SOLDIER and at the end of the day, he had already made his choice long ago to stand by Shinra and its cause.

Shaking his head, he bent down and began to squat. Memories of Wutai always did leave a bitter taste in his mouth.

It was where Angeal had betrayed them after all.

* * *

Robin hummed a low tune as she wrote down the answer of another homework problem. History had always been an interesting subject for her, though Professor Oobleck could be a tad overeager at times.

When Pyrrha had slammed the door open and stormed inside, Robin couldn't help but let out a yelp in surprise.

The red head's eyes widened, "Oh, I'm so sorry Robin! I didn't realize you were here."

"Its fine Pyrrha, you don't need to apologize," Robin softly replied, "Did something happen with you and Jaune? You looked like you were in a bad mood."

Pyrrha sighed as she sat down on the edge of her bed, "It's nothing that you need to worry yourself over. Jaune and I simply had a disagreement."

Robin raised an eyebrow in surprise, but otherwise said nothing. Pyrrha and Jaune had seemed to get along so well, what could have happened? But the red head didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it, so Robin didn't pry, instead turning her attention back towards her homework.

Pyrrha soon joined her and took out her own books as well. The two girls continued to work on their individual assignments in silence.

A good amount of time had passed before the door opened once again and their orange haired teammate walked into the room. Robin had given up on greeting him as the other boy would simply snap at her or outright ignore her in response.

Pyrrha Nikos glanced up from her notes, "Hello, Cardin."

Cardin only grunted in response as he grabbed some clothes from his bed before leaving for the bathroom. The orange haired boy had openly expressed his dislike for the team and only interacted with them out of necessity, choosing to avoid being in the same room with them as much as possible. She didn't really have a problem with that, but she knew that this type of relationship wouldn't be good for the team in the long run.

Eventually, the sounds of a showerhead turning on snapped her out of her thoughts. She sighed as she turned her attention back towards her notes. Why did things always have to be so difficult.

After another few minutes or so, the door popped open again and their blonde haired leader walked in.

"Hey Jaune," Robin greeted with a small smile.

"Hey Robin," Jaune returned the smile with a wry one of his own before making his way towards his bed and slumping into it.

Robin didn't miss the fact that Pyrrha and their leader had appeared to be ignoring each other. Hopefully whatever happened between the two would get sorted out soon enough. Their team was already dysfunctional enough…

* * *

When Professor Goodwitch had announced that they would be going on a field trip to Forever Fall, he didn't think much of it. When they actually got there, he couldn't help but let out a low whistle in appreciation. Gaia had its own sights, but Remnant seemed to be on a whole other level when it came to amazing scenery.

Blood red fall trees were littered around as far as the eye could see. Every time a slight breeze would pass by, red leaves would scatter into the wind. It was almost mesmerizing to watch.

"Each of you students are to gather a jar's worth of red sap. However, this forest is full of the creatures of the Grimm, so be sure to stay with your team. We will rendezvous back here at four o'clock. And have fun!"

Zack threw his hands behind his head as he watched Professor Goodwitch and the other professors gather around the campsite. Most of the other teams had already begun wandering off into the forest. Yang gave a wave when she and her team walked by, headed into the southern parts of Forever Fall.

He raised an eyebrow when he saw Cardin Winchester storm off on his own, leaving the rest of his team behind. Apparently some people didn't catch the memo about sticking together.

"Alright, let's move out team!" Ruby happily chirped out as she began to march forward.

Zack glanced over at his other teammates. They all shared a look and shrugged before making after their hyperactive little leader.

* * *

Author's Notes-

I know that I've been throwing out chapters like 2-3 times a week, but things will probably be slowing down from now on as I've started my summer courses. I think I'll aim for a chapter every 1-2 weeks. Anyway, I'd like to say thanks for pointing out the typos, I've already made some changes to the previous chapter and gotten those fixed (The struggles of not having a Beta _).

So, I know that some people are a bit disheartened about the whole team mixing thing. Well, with the way the story was progressing, the only two options that I could think of were to either A.) Put Zack into a team full of OCs or B.) Mix up the teams. I didn't go with the prior because I felt like that would probably detract too much from the main cast. Now, with B the only problem was that the only other team shown at Beacon was team CRDL, so I had to make due with what I had. At the very least, I don't plan on having them remain the card board cutouts that they are in the show if that makes anyone feel better. I know some other stories do the whole RWBY+1 thing, but I really couldn't think of a viable reason for that happening. (It just seems really half-assed).

Anyway, I've rambled on enough, let's get on to the reviews.

Reviews-

The Baz- Lol, you got a good point about that. Yeah, I mean Zack can get along with pretty much anyone so I can see that happening.

Cor Tenebris- I'm happy that you liked it, that's what I was aiming for.

Stiama- Thanks for pointing that out, fixed it.

Thunder Dragon- 1.) Eh, I'll say that the weapon crafting will probably happen in the next 2-3 chapters probably, I've got something in mind for it. 2.) I'll leave that as a surprise, lol. 3.) Probably not, other than some weapon upgrades.

PersonaQeminod1- Pyrrha's too nice to go for a cheap shot anyway. :)

Cired Eiyuu- Yes, I can see that. I've got a few ideas so far, but I haven't decided on anything yet so we'll see.

RoyalToLoyal- Yeah, 'good' Sephiroth was pretty awesome.

KJ- I've got something in mind regarding the other world. I'll leave it as a surprise though, :).

As for everyone else, thanks for the support~ Hopefully I'll see all of you back next chapter~

-SFX


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-

LOVELESS

* * *

Zack was used to doing grunt work. So, when it came to things like collecting tree sap, he didn't have much of a problem with it. Coming from a backwater village like Gongaga, you did things like this on a daily basis. Some of his classmates on the other hand…

"Ugh…" Weiss frowned, "We're supposed to be huntresses in training, why are they having us do menial tasks like this?"

Russel glanced up from his jar and began to open his mouth. Only to momentarily pause before deciding better of it and promptly snapped his lips shut.

Zack gave him a grin and a thumbs up. Russel just rolled his eyes in response.

"I mean, someone's got to do it right?" Ruby began, "And we _are_ the first years."

"I suppose," Weiss sighed.

"It's not that bad Weiss," The young reaper added, "I mean we get to visit Forever Fall at least."

"They're trees Ruby. You can see them back at Beacon."

Evidently, not everyone was a fan of the field trip.

* * *

Jaune watched as the red tree sap continued to slowly drip into his jar. He stole another glance at Pyrrha, who was still focused on filling up her own jar. He couldn't help but let out a sigh as he turned back towards his own jar.

He felt like a jerk. Even after he had told her how he was a fake… How he had lied his way into the school. She still just wanted to help and he had pushed her away. And for what? His pride? His ego? Some stupid macho crap?

"Jaune?"

He blinked.

"Oh, hey Robin… What's up?"

"Uh, your jars overflowing."

He looked down at his jar. Then he looked at his hands, followed by his clothes. He groaned.

"Aww man… This stuff's going to be so hard to wash off."

"Here," Robin took out a small handkerchief and held it out.

He gave her a small smile.

"Thanks."

Jaune cleaned his hands and tried his best to wipe the sticky liquid off his clothing. Luckily, it came off his plate armor pretty easily, but as for the actual fabric, well… He'd probably have to get some new pants.

"Uhm… You can keep the handkerchief."

He glanced at the now discolored fabric in his hand and gave a sheepish smile.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I can always make another one," Robin returned the smile with one of her own.

"So, you like to sew?"

"It's a hobby of mine."

"Hmm," Jaune hummed, "That's cool."

"Jaune…" Robin tentatively began, "Did something happen with you and Pyrrha?"

"W-what? What makes you say that?" He forced a smile, "We're fine Robin."

"Jaune, you've been avoiding her for over two days now. I don't think I've seen you even talk to her even once as of late."

"What? Me, avoiding her? Pfft, no way, we just… ran out of things to talk about!" He rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, that's it!"

Robin gave him a look.

He sighed, "Okay fine. Somethings wrong."

"What happened?"

"I'm an idiot, that's what. I messed up," Jaune mumbled out, "She just wanted to help and I pushed her away."

Robin kept her expression neutral, "Did you try apologizing to her?"

Jaune shook his head. He hadn't found the nerve to speak to her since, and that bothered him more than anything. He was a coward…

"Jaune… You should go apologize to her. You still want to remain friends with her, don't you?"

"Of course I do! It's just… hard."

"Nobody ever said it would be easy Jaune," Robin smiled, "But I know you'll make the right choice."

"And why's that?"

"Because Jaune, you're our leader."

He looked away, "You shouldn't have so much confidence in me Robin. I don't deserve to be our leader…"

"Of course you do Jaune. Did you forget? It was your plan that got us through the initiation test in the first place."

"Robin, I don't deserve to be our leader. I don't even deserve to be here," Jaune sighed, "I snuck into Beacon alright? I got some forged transcripts and snuck in."

The Faunus girl frowned, "And?"

"What do you mean _and_? I snuck in!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it was because of _you_ that we all managed to get through initiation Jaune. It was because of _your_ leadership. If that doesn't prove that you deserve to be our leader, then I don't know what does."

Jaune didn't say anything as he took in her words. Was he truly worthy of being their leader? Did he truly belong here? He still wasn't sure, but Robin believed in him, Pyrrha believed in him, and that was enough for him.

"Robin," Jaune smiled, "Thanks. And you're right; I'm going to go apologize."

"You don't have to thank me Jaune," Robin smiled as well, "That was just my honest opinion."

"Still, thanks."

He stood up and took a deep breath before turning his attention towards a certain red head. It was now or never. He gathered himself and walked over towards the girl. He crouched down next to her and gave a small smile.

"Hey, Pyrrha."

Pyrrha Nikos returned his smile in kind with a small one of her own.

"Hello, Jaune."

"Pyrrha, I'm sorry. You were just trying to help and I-"

"Jaune, it's okay, you don't have to explain anything," Pyrrha interrupted, "Apology accepted."

He gave her a genuine smile, "Thanks Pyrrha."

She returned the smile with a radiant one of her own, "It's good to have things back to normal."

"Yeah," Jaune nodded in agreement.

He began to stand back up again before pausing, unsure if he wanted to press his luck. In the end, he decided that he might as well.

"Hey, Pyrrha," Jaune began, catching the red head's attention once more, "Would you still be willing… to help me? You know, with the training thing," He let the question hang in the air for a brief moment before rubbing the back of his head, "I mean, you know what? Never mind… I don't deserve your deserve your help after-"

"Jaune," Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, "I would be happy to help you."

Jaune couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks, Pyrrha."

"Let's get back to work now; these jars aren't going to fill themselves."

Jaune nodded and began to walk back towards his jar before stopping in his tracks as a loud explosion rang through the forest. He didn't miss how Robin flinched and how Pyrrha's eyes narrowed at the direction of the noise.

"Uh," Jaune began, "What was th-"

He couldn't help but flinch as well at the loud roar the tore through the air.

"Grimm…" Pyrrha stood up and reached for her Javelin, "Sounded like an Ursa."

"The direction of the noise, that's where Cardin went…" Robin pointed out.

Jaune could feel both pair of eyes turn towards him, waiting in earnest. He gathered himself and nodded. He was the leader, and his team was waiting for him to lead.

"Let's go."

* * *

Ruby blinked when she heard a roar rip through the air. The sounds of Grimm were something that she had gotten used to a long time ago. Judging by the pitch of the voice, it was probably an Ursa.

"Uh, anyone else hear that?" Zack asked with a raised eyebrow.

Weiss nodded, "Sounds like some of our classmates have run into the Grimm," The Schnee heiress glanced over towards the direction of the noise, "What should we do?"

"Why," Russel dryly began, "Should we _do_ anything? It's not our problem."

Ruby frowned. It might not have been their problem, but if someone needed help, she wouldn't leave them be. It went against her very being.

"We're going to check it out," Ruby stated with finality.

"Well," Zack said with a grin, "You heard our leader."

* * *

Cardin Winchester couldn't help but grit his teeth as he knocked another tree branch out of the way. He was beginning to think that going to Beacon was a mistake. Really, the fact that they could pair him up with a stinking Faunus was bullshit. And then they had the nerve to make Jaune Arc the team leader? What the fuck was wrong with these people?

If Pyrrha Nikos had been made leader over him, he could understand. He didn't like the girl, but he could respect her skills. But making Jaune Arc their leader? That was a fucking joke. He had seen pre-teens that were better fighters than their 'leader'.

With a grunt, he sat down in front of a large tree trunk and began to fill his jar up with sap. He was already in a shitty mood, the fact that they had to do grunt work wasn't doing his mood any favors. Maybe he should have just gone to Atlas instead. Then again, Ironwood seemed like a prick, so maybe not.

Cardin raised an eyebrow when he heard the rustling of leaves. Leaving the jar on the floor, he stood up and walked over towards the noise, tilting his head. When an Ursa crawled its way out, he froze in place.

He felt a bead of sweat roll down his face as he stared into the eyes of the great beast that stood in front him. It was an Ursa, and a huge one at that. He could feel his very pulse beating in his ears as he took a hesitant step back. He was alone, and he couldn't find it in himself to muster up any more false bravado like he had during initiation. The damn thing was huge and it scared him shitless.

Almost as if it could taste his fear, the Grimm let out a beastly roar and charged. In a panic, he fumbled to take out his weapon, hitting the trigger of the mace by accident as it dropped into the ground and exploded. The blast sent him reeling backwards as a cloud of dirt and dust formed around the area.

In a daze, his eyes widened as he saw a huge meaty paw come flying at him. The blow to his chest plate sent him flying into a nearby tree. He let out a groan in pain as he struggled to find his footing. Aura had helped soften the blow, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

The beast let out another low growl as it charged again. Cardin fumbled to roll out of the way as the Ursa smashed the tree in two. Eyeing the Grimm and his weapon off on the side, he sucked in a breath and took off after his mace.

Once he held the weapon in his hand, he turned to face the beast. The Ursa growled as it prepared to pounce again. He couldn't help but swear when he reached for his Dust reserves and found that he didn't have any more spare vials. He'd been so busy blowing off steam by smashing practice dummies in the training room that he had forgotten to restock.

The thing with Onyx was, while the weapon packed a hell of a punch, it was a one hit wonder. The mace used up an entire vial of Dust in one shot, and too bad for him, his one shot was used to make that hole on the ground.

When the beast pounced again, this time he was ready. The lumbering giant swung another meaty paw at him, only this time, instead of getting hit, he slipped under the swipe. Gritting his teeth he smashed Onyx into the Ursa's side. Without the Dust though, Onyx wasn't very effective against something as big as an Ursa. The Grimm let out a howl in pain before it raised another paw and slapped him aside.

Cardin flew backwards once again and landed on the ground in a bumbled heap. He could feel panic begin to creep into his system. That last hit had done in the rest of his Aura. If he got hit by that thing again… It wouldn't end well.

Cardin tried to stand up to no avail. It was as if he couldn't feel his legs. His eyes had widened into the size of small saucers and his heartbeat was so erratic that he thought that he was having a heart attack. He couldn't take his eyes off the Grimm as it stalked closer.

When the great beast brought a hairy paw up and slammed it down, he screamed.

* * *

Robin couldn't help but flinch when she heard the scream.

"Pyrrha!" Jaune yelled out in a commanding tone.

"On it!" The red head answered as she leaped forward in an impressive feat of speed and agility.

"Robin, shoot it!" Jaune ordered as the blonde haired boy took after the red head.

"Right!" She called back.

Robin took out her bow and began to notch a blue colored arrow. Pyrrha had done a good job in holding the Ursa back with her shield while Jaune pulled Cardin away. She closed one eye and took aim. The arrow flew through the air and hit the beast in the shoulder. The blue Dust did its job as a coat of ice began to form over the Ursa. Pyrrha finished the rest as she ran the Grimm through with her Javelin.

She allowed herself a small sigh of relief before she ran over towards her team leader. Jaune stood over Cardin with a frown clearly etched across his face. When Robin took a look at the orange haired boy, she couldn't but help feel her heart drop. Cardin was a racist and a bully, but he was still their teammate. He didn't deserve this.

Jaune looked glanced over towards Pyrrha with a worried expression, "We need to get the teachers."

"You're right, I'll get them right away," Pyrrha replied before taking off in a burst of speed.

Jaune crouched down and put a hand on the orange haired boy's chest plate, "Hang in there Cardin, Pyrrha's going to get help right now."

Cardin didn't respond with anything other than a small nod. The boy had an arm covering his face and his gritted teeth showed how much pain he was in. Robin crouched down next to Jaune and took a closer look at the wound.

The gash was right above his right knee. It was so deep that she could see the now exposed bone that rested beneath the torn flesh. Blood continued to slowly ooze from the wound.

It was a grisly sight, and she was surprised that she could even stomach it.

* * *

The field trip had ended up being cut short, but Zack couldn't blame them, after what had transpired. When he and his team had finally arrived at the scene, there were already a few other students standing around. The professors were huddled together around the orange haired boy while the rest of team JCPR stood off on the side.

Eventually, a bullhead landed in a nearby clearing and a pair of medics ran out with a stretcher. He got a decent look at the orange haired boy when he got loaded onto the aircraft. From what he could see, Cardin would live, but whether or not he would be able to use that leg again… Well, that depended on how advanced Remnant's medical departments were.

With the trip being cut short, the remaining students were given the rest of the day off. He couldn't help but frown when he overheard a couple of his classmates celebrating in the cafeteria. Days off were nice and all, but celebrating about it when it came at the price of someone getting injured left a bad taste in his mouth. Cardin might have been a prick but he didn't deserve that.

"Tch, some people have no class," Weiss coldly stated.

He couldn't help but agree his white haired teammate.

"Yeah… Being happy about not having class after what happened just seems… wrong," Ruby uttered out in a soft voice.

Surprisingly, Russel had been quiet the entire time. But Zack didn't miss the steel in his eyes and how his mouth had been fixed in a hard line for most of the trip back. Zack glanced down at the other boy's plate and saw that he hadn't taken a single bite of his dinner.

"Hey Russel," He began, "You two were friends right?"

"I suppose, we got along well enough if that's what you're wondering," The green haired boy off handedly replied.

"Then I take it that you two have known each other for a while?" Weiss questioned.

Russel gave the white haired girl a calculated look before shrugging.

"You could say that. We went to the same combat academy."

Weiss gave a sympathetic smile, "For what it's worth, you have my condolences."

"He'll be okay Russel, I'm sure the doctors will fix him up in no time," Ruby added with a small smile as well.

For the first time since he had met him, Zack saw the green haired boy actually crack a smile himself.

"Thanks for the reassurances guys, but I'm not worried," Russel coolly replied, "It's not like he's going to die or anything."

Zack couldn't help but roll his eyes. Russel was a terrible liar.

* * *

Blake Belladonna turned another page of her book. It was nice to have some extra time to read, and with how she had been saddled onto being team leader, finding time to partake in her favorite past time was getting harder and harder. The extra day off was nice, but the price for it didn't sit well with her. From what little she had seen of Cardin Winchester, he was a racist, another cog in the hate machine that led to Faunus being in the position that they were in. That didn't mean he deserved to get mauled by an Ursa though. She'd be lying if she said she didn't feel some sympathy for the boy.

She let out a small sigh and closed the book when her teammate, Yang Xiao Long busted open the door.

"Hey partner," Yang greeted, "You've been in here by yourself the whole time, whatcha been up to?"

"Reading."

The blonde haired girl took a seat next to her and glanced over at the book.

"Geez, you're _still_ reading that trashy romance novel?"

Blake couldn't help but look away as her face began to flush. Despite her valiant attempts at hiding her novels, Yang had somehow managed to find her 'Ninja's in Love' copy, as well as the rest of her secret stash. Needless to say, it was an embarrassing situation that she would rather soon forget.

"It's a good read…" She eventually managed to meekly squeak out.

"Yeah, who would've thought that Blake Belladonna was such a hopeless romantic," Yang snickered out.

Blake put her hands on her face and groaned. Oh how she wished that she had hid her secret stash of novels better. If only she knew that Yang was like a goddamn bloodhound when it came to sniffing out more ammunition to tease people with.

"Anyway, enough about that mushy stuff," The blonde draped an arm over her shoulder, "So, I was thinking how about we head out to the docks tomorrow?"

Blake removed her hands from her face and raised an eyebrow, "Why…?"

"Well, my sis and her team are going, so I figured that we might as well tag along!" Yang took a quick look around before leaning closer to her ear, "Plus, we'd be giving Ren and Nora some alone time."

Blake gave the blonde a blank look.

"Yang, they've already said time and time again that they aren't together."

"Oh come on," Yang gave a sly grin, "I know _you_ don't actually believe that."

"Well… You've got a point," Blake sighed, "But why the docks?"

"Eh, I think Rube's partner wanted to check out some of the competition for the Vytal festival or something. I heard that they've started arriving a couple days ago."

"The Schnee heiress?"

The blonde nodded, "Yeah, Weiss. Kind of feisty, but she's alright."

"I don't know Yang," Blake frowned, "I don't think the Schnee heiress and I would get along all too well…"

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"You know how I feel about the Schnee Dust Company."

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with her? She probably doesn't even have anything to do with how her parents run the company."

Blake bit her lower lip. Her partner was probably right, she shouldn't judge someone for being born into the Schnee Dust Company. It would have been as silly as judging someone for being born a Faunus…

"Alright fine, you're right. I'll come."

Yang grinned, "That's the spirit!"

* * *

Zack had to admit, Vale was a nice looking coastal city. Midgar had its perks being the most technologically advanced city on the planet, but he never really cared much for it. He was a small town guy at heart and 'the city where the sun never reached' was simply another place that he stayed at for work.

Vale wasn't small by any means, but with the Vytal festival drawing near, the city gave off that friendly vibe that Midgar seemed to lack. It was a nice sight to see.

"Wow Weiss, I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much." Ruby pointed out.

"How could you _not_ smile? Everyone is preparing for the Vytal Festival!" Weiss happily replied, "It's a festival dedicated to the cultures of the world!"

Zack didn't miss how Russel rolled his eyes in response. At the very least, the other boy remained true to his word and kept the snarky comments to himself.

"Hey, you guys see that?" Yang asked as she pointed in the direction of a ruined store.

Zack raised an eyebrow when they got closer to the place. A pair of officers stood watch at the quarantined crime scene. The window was smashed in and a few bullet holes could be seen on the walls of the building.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked.

"Robbery, second Dust shop hit this week. Probably White Fang," The officer gruffly answered before turning back towards his work.

"Hmph. The White Fang," Weiss huffed as she walked away, "What an awful bunch of degenerates."

"Degenerates? Hah," Russel scoffed, "You're going too easy on them Schnee, they're scum."

"It seems that we can finally agree on something. You're right, I am 'going too easy' on them. They're criminally insane rapscallions."

"…What?" Blake frowned, "The White Fang are simply a collection of misguided Faunus."

" _Misguided_?" The Schnee heiress questioned in disbelief, "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet! They steal, they kidnap, and they murder people!"

"So then they're _very_ misguided." Blake shot back.

"Yeah, and you know what they call a _misguided_ murderer?" Russel spat out, "A fucking murderer."

Zack frowned, "Look guys, let's just calm down for a minute."

"And why do you think they've been pushed to that point in the first place?!" Blake yelled back, "It's because of discriminatory people like you two!"

"Discriminatory? I'm a victim!" Weiss bit back.

"And the Faunus of the White Fang aren't!?"

"Yeah, they're victims alright." Russel laughed, "Victims that go around robbing Dust shops in packs like a bunch of animals, right?"

"Can we all just chill out?!" Yang screamed, her eyes turning a shade of red in frustration.

"They don't need to bother," Blake coldly replied, "I'm leaving."

Yang watched her partner storm off and sighed. She turned to her sister and gave an apologetic look, "I'm going to go after her, I'll see you guys later."

Zack rubbed the back of his neck as the blonde ran off as well. The tension in the air was still thick enough that you could cut it with a knife. It was one hell of a way to start the day off.

"Don't you guys think you were being a little mean?" Ruby softly asked.

"Hardly," Weiss crossed her arms over her chest, "She was trying to defend the White Fang for crying out loud."

"…I'm going back to the dorm," Russel began, "Not in the mood for sight-seeing anymore."

"I can't believe that I'm saying this again, but I agree with him," Weiss replied, "I'm going to head back as well."

Zack glanced over at Ruby who just sighed.

"I guess we're going back then," The young reaper muttered.

Zack threw his hands behind his head.

"I guess so," He gave the younger girl a small smile, "Even though she was the one that wanted to come out here in the first place."

"I know right?" Ruby cracked a small smile as well.

* * *

Winter Schnee couldn't help but feel a bit of tension as the airship prepared for landing. When she had received her new mission parameters, she couldn't help but think, who in their right mind would attack an Atlas military outpost? Fort Bolton was one of Atlas's many military outposts along the border of the kingdom. It wasn't the biggest or the most well defended place, but still, who was crazy enough to mount an attack on the largest military in the world? Initially, she had feared that it might have been one of the other kingdoms. The repercussions of such an attack would have been disastrous, but the general had quickly dispelled that idea.

Her unit was the closest one nearby as they had recently just finished another mission in the area. They would be the first boots on the ground, and that was probably for the best. The Atlesian Knights made good front line soldiers, but on missions like these, the Special Operatives Units were best suited for the job. Her unit was still green, but they did their jobs well.

When the airship finally touched the ground, she rose up from her seat and looked over her unit. The Atlas military was comprised of mostly androids, the Atlesian Knight-200 models, but the Special Operatives Units were comprised of exclusively hand-picked huntsmen and huntresses. Fresh graduates from the Atlas Academy.

"I want a sweep of the area," She began in an icy tone, "Quick and efficient. We don't know who or what attacked Fort Bolton, but we're going to find out. Stay frosty out there."

When the door finally popped open, she wrinkled her nose at the smell. It smelled of sulfur and ash. Worse of all, it reeked of death.

"Oaks, you're with me. The rest of you, spread out, look for survivors." Winter commanded.

"Ma'am!"

The outpost had seen better days. The remains of Atlesian Knights were scattered throughout the place. Luckily, most of the troops here were androids so the casualty count shouldn't be too high. A few small fires could be seen burning around parts of the building.

Winter narrowed her eyes as she continued walking through the rubble. Why would someone attack a small outpost like this? What did they have to gain?

She stopped walking as she came to a realization.

"Ma'am?" Special Operative Oaks questioned.

"The research labs." She ground out before storming off towards the direction of the labs.

There was nothing else of value out here other than the research labs. If she recalled correctly, it was Professor Anderson and his Aura research that was stationed here.

The remains of multiple AK-200s outside the broken down door of the laboratory only confirmed her thoughts. She kept a hand on the handle of her saber as she stepped into the room.

Winter narrowed her eyes when she saw what she assumed to be Professor Anderson lying dead on the ground. A man with a single black wing stood in the middle of the room. A Faunus with wings?

She took out her saber, "Identify yourself!"

The winged man turned around, albeit slowly. The smirk that was plastered on his face reminded her too much of an all too annoying drunkard.

"I am nobody. Just another simple monster."

"Why did you attack an Atlas military base?"

The man gave her a calculated look before replying.

"I am looking for something."

She frowned at the useless answers. Oaks had already signaled the rest of the unit, they would be here any second. She just had to keep him occupied for the time being.

"And what would that 'something' be?"

The winged man didn't respond. When his hand began to glow, her eyes widened. The man threw a fireball at the wall, destroying it before running off into the newly made entrance.

"Wait!" Winter yelled out as she ran after the man.

Luckily, he didn't have anywhere to run as the rest of her unit stood waiting. They began to surround the winged man, their weapons drawn. She held a hand up, ordering her troops to hold.

"I'd suggest you surrender."

It was more of a demand than a suggestion.

The man simply took a glance around before lifting up a red colored rapier.

Winter frowned but didn't say anything more. If he wanted to do it the hard way then so be it. She brought her hand down and her troops attacked.

* * *

 **BGM- Crisis Core: A Beating Black Wing**

Her men attacked in pairs. Attacking with anymore would cause too much chaos and potential friendly fire. The winged man displayed an impressive show of agility as he fended off the assault. One by one, she watched as the man took apart her unit.

After watching her troops fight, she had a general idea of the way the man fought. A one handed style with the rapier. The man seemed to favor his right arm, an old injury perhaps. When Special Operative Oaks got kicked into a nearby wall, she had enough.

Winter tapped a button on her saber, letting the weapon split into a saber and parrying dagger respectively. She lunged forward and attacked.

The man blocked her strike and lifted his left arm. She jumped out of the way as another fireball flew past her. Winter made sure to stay on his left side as she thrust her rapier forward once more. The man side stepped it and jumped back as well.

"Going for an old wound? Now, where's the honor in that?" The man asked, that infuriating smirk still plastered on his face.

"Was there any honor in killing a defenseless scientist?" She bit back.

"I am a monster," The winged man softly whispered, the smirk no longer there, "I have no honor."

The man's lone black wing began to flap as he launched himself forward. Winter cast a glyph behind herself as she dashed forward as well.

Their blades met, and the result was a resounding explosion of wind. They stood in a deadlock as she struggled to push his weapon back. With a grunt, she willed a glyph to form underneath the man.

The man's eyes briefly widened before he jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding an attack from her newly summoned Beowolf.

Twirling her saber, she stabbed it into the ground as a large glyph formed around her. A dozen different summons soon speckled into life, ranging from Beowolves to Ursa. She willed the beasts to attack and they charged forward.

The man narrowed his eyes at the onslaught of creatures as his left hand glowed once more. A flurry of fireballs shot out and smashed into her summoned beasts. Not a single one was able to even get within range of the winged man.

She frowned as she stood back up again. Semblances that could control the elements like that were rare. Just who was this man?

The familiar sounds of Atlas gunships began to resonate through the air. Reinforcements from the capital most likely.

The winged man glanced up at the sky before frowning.

"You're not getting away," Winter tilted her head towards the arriving gunships, "Feel like surrendering now?"

The man just shook his head and smirked, _"The wandering soul knows no rest."_

She narrowed her eyes at the man's words. First senseless answers and now he speaks in riddles?

When the man reached into his coat, she brought her sabers up in a defensive stance, only to pause when he took out a small crystal marble. Her eyes widened when the familiar form of a summoning glyph began to trace itself into the air.

"I was saving this one for the pup, but I suppose you'll have to do."

The man flapped his wing once more and began to fly away. Winter made to follow but paused when the summoning glyph began to shake. Her eyes widened once more when the form of the creature began to appear.

The large golden dragon let out an ear splitting roar as it seemed to force itself into reality. She felt her grip on her two weapons tighten as she eyed the beast. Winter was a proud individual. She was proud of her skills, but this time, as she stared into the eyes of the great beast before her, she couldn't help but feel a bit out classed.

It was a good thing that the gunships were here.

* * *

Author's Notes: This chapter took longer to write than I wanted, but you can blame school for that. So, after 30k words of world building, expositions, and setting things up, the plot can actually start rolling. I've been waiting to write this scene since the start, so that was fun.

Review Corner-

XxPokemonmasterxX- Personally, I think it's pretty OP. You can't stop bullets, but it's not like they need to, these guys tank bullets like nothing.

Flamelegendvargas- Yeah, I agree it's too bad that the rest of the characters don't really get any backstories or anything. Is it me or did team CRDL literally vanish off the face of the planet in S3?

AWP- Eh, personally I don't like it. The show seems to go out of its way to show us that teams are only comprised of four members.

The Baz- Agreed, I hope they do so in the upcoming remake as well. I'd like to point out though that the story is told from a character's point of view. So while we know Shinra was most likely the cause of the war, Zack doesn't, after all Shinra propaganda was at it's peak during that time. I'll leave the other FF characters as a surprise, heh.

Blackwolf249- That's the plan.

Stayblessed- Understandable, I can see how people can get tired of the same archetype. I'd suggest reading 'The Longest Hunt' if you haven't already.

Lonevizard90- Yeah, I'm not really either. Crisis Core was probably the only FF game that I actually liked other than the tactics series.

xxOblivionxxx- Yeah, I don't speak for other people, but here's my interpretation of those boss battle CGs, specifically the Bahamut Fury one. I would say to take those CGs with a grain of salt. Honestly Square probably only added those in to make the boss fights look more 'epic', it doesn't really make sense otherwise. If you think about it, if Zack could actually move FTL or had planet destroying abilities, would he really have died to a bunch of regular Shinra grunts with rifles and a couple of attack helicopters? Lol, I find that laughable.

I could go on a whole rant about how ridiculously over the top those boss battle CGs are, but that would end up taking up this whole review section, so I'll just leave it on this note. Fancy boss battle CGs=/=actual relevance to power levels in the story(Zack beats Minerva, a god, so if we go by game logic he should be the strongest character in the series, but it's pretty apparent from the ending that he isn't). If you disagree that's fine, but this is my thought process on the matter and how I plan to write the story.

I think that's it for questions, and for everyone else that reviewed, thanks. I'll see you guys next chapter~

-SFX


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9-

In the Shadows they Lurk

* * *

It was quiet in their room, too quiet. Ren liked quiet, but not the kind of quiet tension that seemed to hang in the air of their room. Even Nora, as oblivious as she can be at times, seemed to take notice and remained much quieter than usual. He glanced over at his team leader again, who had her face buried in a book. The only problem was that she didn't seem to be actually reading the said book. Ren was an observant person and he hadn't missed how in the past, his team leader would breeze through multiple pages of novels in mere minutes.

For someone that read as fast as Blake, it was strange how she had spent the past ten minutes on the same page. It was the only thing that their leader had done since she had rushed into the room.

As Ren was about to ask the bow wearing girl if something was wrong, the door to the room flew open and their blonde haired teammate walked in with a frown evident on her face.

"You didn't have to be in such a rush Blake," Yang said as she took a seat next to their leader, "You could have at least waited for me."

"Sorry," Blake softly whispered, not moving the book away from her face.

That familiar tense silence soon settled into the air again.

He cast Yang a curious look, "Did something happen?"

"Nothing," Blake briskly replied.

"No, not nothing," Yang corrected, "Blake got into an argument with some of team RZWR."

Ren raised an eyebrow at that. Their leader had gotten into an argument with someone? That was uncharacteristic of her.

"And," The blonde added, "We need to talk about that."

"There's nothing to talk about," Blake surly answered.

"Oh come on partner," Yang crossed her arms over her chest, "Getting into heated arguments like that wasn't like you. What was up with that?"

"Nothing," Blake closed the book and set it aside, "I just got a little angry and lost my cool, that's all."

"What was the argument about?" Ren curiously asked.

"…The White Fang," Blake softly muttered."

He raised an eyebrow once again, "The terrorist group?"

"They're not terrorists!" Blake snapped.

Ren blinked, "Sorry?"

"No, don't be sorry. I'm the one that should be sorry for snapping at you," The bow wearing girl sighed, "It's just, they're not terrorists alright? They're just… misguided."

"Look partner, I know that you don't like people discriminating against the Faunus but… We all saw what happened to that Dust store. And then there's been the news too…"

"I don't think that the White Fang are behind all the robberies lately Yang," Blake frowned, "I've been thinking about it this the whole time. Why would the White Fang need this much Dust? It just doesn't make sense."

"What if they do?" The blonde countered.

"They shouldn't."

"But we don't know that Blake," Yang began, "And why do you care about them so much?"

"Because they weren't always like this Yang," Blake sighed once again, "They used to be a sign of hope for the Faunus. They used to be a peaceful organization."

"You speak as if you've been a part of them," Ren pointed out.

Blake looked away. A couple more tense minutes of silence passed by before the bow wearing girl seemed to finally gather her resolve.

"I know that I'm the leader of the team and that I have a responsibility to you all," Blake softly began, "So I'm going to tell you guys everything, from the beginning. Just… keep it amongst yourselves."

She reached for her bow and slowly pulled the black fabric off. Ren blinked once, and then he blinked again to make sure he wasn't imaging the extra pair of ears sitting atop their leader's head. So, their leader was a Faunus. But why hide it?

"I knew it!" Nora exclaimed as she jumped up, "I knew I saw that ribbon move!"

Everyone stared at the orange haired girl.

Ren sighed, "Nora."

"Oh, sorry," The hyperactive girl sheepishly replied as she returned to her seat, "You guys can keep going."

"… Anyway, you're right Ren. I was a part of the White Fang," Blake resumed, "But they were different back then, they were a peaceful group. Then the White Fang got new leadership, and that was when they began to turn to violence."

Blake took a deep breath before speaking again.

"And the worst thing about it all was; the violence was working. People started treating us better. But not out of respect, out of fear. I didn't agree with that at all, I wanted equality for the Faunus, but not through bloodshed… So, I left."

The room was quiet after their leader had finished speaking.

"I know how they operate," Blake began once again, ending the silence, "I just can't see a reason for them to stockpile all this Dust, it doesn't make sense."

Ren frowned, "But like you said, that was a long time ago. Things might have changed."

"That's certainly a possibility, but…" Blake trailed off.

"You don't want to believe that they _are_ behind all of this," Yang completed for their leader.

Their leader didn't say anything but she nodded in response.

"Well, why don't we just prove that they aren't the robbers then?" Nora questioned.

Ren raised an eyebrow at his childhood friend, "And how do we do that Nora?"

"That's easy silly, why don't we just wait by the Dust that they want to steal? And if they show up, they're robbers, and if they don't, then they're innocent," Nora stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Everyone in the room blinked.

"That's…" Blake blinked once again, "Actually not a bad idea. But, I don't have any clues as to where they could target next."

"Well, we _might_ know someone that _might_ have an idea," Yang slowly began, "But… You _might_ not like it."

Blake gave her partner a confused look, "Who?"

Yang rubbed the back her neck.

"Weiss?"

Blake frowned.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight Yang," Weiss began as she paced around the room.

Zack's eyes followed his teammate as she made elegant strides around their room.

"You want me to find out if any shipments of Schnee Dust are coming into the city."

He watched as she stopped in front of the blonde.

"Because Blake wants to prove that the White Fang _aren't_ responsible for all the robberies… By waiting to see if they actually do show up to steal the shipments?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded with a grin, "Pretty much. So, will you help us?"

"That has got to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard," Russel commented from his bed.

"Yeah, well your hair's the stupidest thing I've ever seen and you don't see me getting on you about it," Yang shot back.

Zack couldn't help but laugh. Russel glared at him, but that only caused him to laugh even harder.

"Hey man, you've got to admit, she's got you there," Zack managed to point out in between his laughter, "You should stick to insults Yang, they're way better than your puns."

"Hey! My puns are hilarious."

"Uh," Ruby sheepishly began, "I'm going to have to disagree with that sis."

"Rubes!" Yang gave her younger sister a look of pure betrayal.

" _Anyway_ , let's get back on topic!" Weiss commanded, "I'll help, if only to prove to her that the White Fang _are_ actually behind all of this."

Yang shrugged, "Hey, works for me. So, how are you going to get the info?"

"Simple, by making a long distance call. Wait right here, I'll be right back," Weiss replied before leaving the room.

"Well, in the mean-time," Yang grinned, "Anyone want to play Remnant: The Game?"

"Oh, I call Atlas!" Ruby happily exclaimed as she reached into her drawer and pulled out a board game.

"Hah, get ready to lose," Russel hopped off his bed, "I've got Vacuo."

"How about you Zack?" Yang asked as she started shuffling a deck of cards, "Vale or Mistral?"

Zack blinked. He had no idea what was going on.

"Uh… Vale?"

"How about we make it a little more interesting?" Russel smirked, "What do you guys say to a little wager?"

"What did you have in mind?" Yang asked as she passed out the cards.

The green haired boy shrugged, "50 Lien each, winner takes all?"

The blonde shrugged as well, "Sounds good to me."

"I don't have any money though," Zack pointed out.

"Are you serious Fair? How do you not have 50 Lien? Are you that broke?"

"I guess?"

Technically, Zack was probably in the upper middle class, financially anyway. SOLDIER paid pretty well, First Class doubly so. The only problem was that all of his funds were in Gil instead of Lien.

"How about…" Ruby paused before smirking, "We play for tonight's desserts!"

Russel sighed as he went to place down his pieces on the board, "I guess that'll have to do."

"Hey wait!" Zack frowned, "I don't even know how to play!"

"Don't be such a killjoy Zack," Yang said as she finished passing out the cards, "Just play, the game's easy, and I'll teach you."

Zack narrowed his eyes at the blonde before taking his hand. He wasn't going to lose his dessert… Not when Beacon food tasted this good.

* * *

"I attack Ruby's Atlas Air-fleet!" Zack triumphantly announced.

"…How are you so good at this game," Ruby groaned.

"And!" Zack continued with glee, "I attack Russel's capital with my Vale Huntsmen unit!"

Russel narrowed his eyes, "There's no way this is your first time playing."

Zack just shrugged as he knocked another piece off the board, "Hey, you guys were the ones that wanted to bet."

"You guys just suck, losing to a newbie," Yang snickered, "You've learned well my apprentice, but you've left your flank wide open! I attack Zack's capital with my Ursa horde!"

Zack smirked, "I activate my trap card."

Yang's jaw dropped, "What?! No way! You cheated!"

"How'd I cheat? You've been sitting next to me this whole time."

"T-there's just no way…" Yang stammered as she let her cards drop to the floor.

"My cookies…" Ruby whimpered as a waterfall of tears streamed down her face.

"I demand a rematch! Double or nothing!" Yang yelled with fire in her eyes.

Zack shrugged, "Sure, what about you guys?"

Russel snorted, "After that? Hell no. I'm out."

"My cookies…"

"There's just no way," The blonde muttered as she began to set up the board again.

As Yang was shuffling the deck, the door popped open and Weiss walked back into the room.

The white haired girl raised an eyebrow, "What are you guys doing?"

"Playing a board game," Yang grumbled, "How'd it go anyway?"

Weiss took out a map and set it down on the middle of the board, "I've got four locations in Vale for big shipments of Dust that are arriving tomorrow tonight. Two are arriving by train, one by air, and one more by sea, courtesy of a new Schnee freighter."

Yang frowned as she checked out the map, "Dang… That's a lot of places we've got to check. Guess we'll do two people each at a site?"

"And _why_ are you just assuming that we all agreed to help out?" Russel asked.

Yang rolled her eyes, "Are you guys cool with helping us out?"

"I've already agreed." Weiss pointed out.

"Of course sis!" Ruby agreed whole heartedly.

"No problem," Zack replied.

Russel sighed, "Why am I not surprised?"

"Alright! Operation stakeout is a go!" Yang proclaimed.

* * *

Zack stifled a yawn as he began to count the stars in the sky. In the end, they had decided on the locations by drawing straws. Ruby and Yang drew the airport while Nora and Weiss got the train station. Ren and Russel drew the other train station, while he found himself sitting atop a shipping container at the docks with the leader of team Burgundy.

Blake didn't talk much, but it wasn't like he didn't have experience in dealing with people like that. If he could work with Tseng, he could work with anyone. And Tseng was the definition of 'gloom'.

He glanced over at the bow wearing girl, or more specifically the little black bow resting atop her head.

"Hey Blake," He slowly began, "Are you a Faunus?"

Blake whipped her head back so quickly that he raised an eyebrow in surprise. She narrowed her eyes.

"I told Yang not to tell anyone…" She muttered.

"Oh, she didn't tell me. I just kind of guessed."

Blake's eyes widened in surprise, "How?"

"Uh, I noticed that your bow would twitch?" Zack scratched the back of his head, "I don't know how no one else noticed to be honest. I kind of figured it out when I saw you back on the airship to Beacon."

Blake blinked.

"So you knew, all this time?"

He shrugged, "I mean I wasn't a hundred percent sure, but I had a pretty good feeling."

"You're pretty observant," She sighed, "So, you've probably figured out why I've been defending the White Fang so much then."

"I've got a hunch. You used to be with them, right?"

He'd done enough joint operations with the Turks to pick up a thing or two when it came to investigations and solving cases.

Blake slowly nodded.

"… You don't have anything to say about that?" The Faunus girl softly asked.

"Me? Nah, not really," He gave a sheepish grin, "Some of my teammates probably would though."

"I don't doubt that," Blake muttered before looking away, "… They weren't always like this though."

"Yeah? How were they before?"

"Back when I was younger, the White Fang was a peaceful group," Blake gave a sad smile, "Instead of violence we relied on protests and rallies. That all changed though…"

"So, you left?"

She nodded, "So, I left."

"Then what's this whole stakeout thing about?"

Blake sighed.

"I guess that deep down, I still want to believe that the White Fang isn't as bad as everyone claims they are, even if the evidence is damning. I guess I still want to believe that the White Fang is still a beacon of hope for the Faunus," She sat down near the edge of the container and drew her knees close, "It's stupid, I know."

Zack gave the Faunus girl a long look before he threw his arms back and laid himself out over the container. The metal was cold to the touch.

"I guess I can relate to that."

She slowly turned her head.

"You can…?"

Zack held a glove covered hand up in the air and stared at the small Shinra insignia sewn into the leather. It was a logo that he had always associated with heroes as a kid, of SOLDIER and the great general himself. These days, after Wutai and Banora village, he wasn't so sure anymore.

"I guess you could say that the group I used to be a part of, well they've been doing some questionable things lately as well."

Blake regarded him quietly before she turned her attention back towards the docks.

"So," She softly whispered, "You ran away too then?"

Zack threw his legs into the air and jumped back onto his feet. He walked over towards the edge of the container where the Faunus girl was sitting and took a seat next to her.

"It was more like some things happened... And then I got relocated."

She gave a raised eyebrow, "Relocated?"

He shrugged, "Yeah, long story."

Blake tilted her head towards the empty docks, "We've got time."

Zack chuckled.

"You probably wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

She simply quietly stared before shrugging as well, "If you say so."

"You know you do that a lot."

"Do what?"

"The whole gloomy stare and brooding thing," Zack said as he did his best Tseng impression.

Blake gave him a look.

"See, you're doing it again!"

The girl ignored him and turned her attention back towards the shipyard. Zack chuckled a bit. He tried to imagine how a conversation between Tseng and Blake would go. Only to quickly dispel the image, he could already feel the gloom. Put the girl into a uniform and she'd fit right in with the clandestine dark suits.

* * *

As the hours ticked by, Zack found it getting harder and harder to stay awake. Stakeouts were never really his thing. The company usually left things like that to the Turks. He was glad that it was at least the weekend, which meant that he could sleep in after they got back.

When the familiar sound of a bullhead's engine began to rev through the air, he stretched his arms out and stifled a yawn. He walked over and took a seat next to the girl at the edge of the container once again. How she had managed to sit still at that one spot for so long was beyond him.

When masked men began to hop out of the bullhead, he glanced over to the Faunus girl.

"I'm guessing that they're the White Fang?"

Blake slowly nodded, but otherwise remained quiet. Zack saw the hard look on her face and didn't bother pressing any further, instead refocusing his attention back towards the masked men. The White Fang members had started bringing out heavy cables from the airship, likely to hook up with the shipping containers. When a man wearing a bowler hat hopped down from the bullhead as well, he raised an eyebrow. The man appeared to be shouting something at the White Fang members, though he couldn't make out what.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human, especially not one that would speak to them like that."

Zack gave Blake a confused look, "Wait, you can hear them?"

She pointed at her 'other' ears.

"Oh, right."

He could recall that Professor Oobleck _had_ mentioned something about Faunus having superior senses. He probably should have paid more attention in class. Then again, when Professor Port came to mind, probably not.

When he noticed that Blake had taken out her weapon, he raised an eyebrow. When she leapt off from her spot on the container, his jaw dropped.

"What are you doing?!"

She ignored him and continued to run closer towards the White Fang members. When Blake got close enough, she jumped out from behind the shipping containers and held her blade at the bowler hat wearing man's throat.

Zack couldn't hear what they were saying, but Blake seemed to have started shouting something at the White Fang members after she had pulled off her ribbon. A couple more bullheads began to hover nearby and more White Fang members began to hop out.

Evidently, Blake didn't seem to understand that the point of a stakeout was for surveillance, and not for whatever the hell she was doing. He took out his scroll and sent a quick message to the rest of the team before leaping off the container himself.

Just in time too, as the bowler hat wearing man had started firing off explosive rounds from his cane. Zack jumped in between the two and held out his sword. As he stood in front of the bowler hat wearing man and got a closer look, he remembered seeing the man's face.

"You're Roman Torchwick," Zack pointed out.

He remembered seeing the man's face on the news that night when Ruby had stopped the robbery at the Dust store.

"Why yes, yes I am!" Roman held his arms out wide in the air, "And you're a punk kid that's in over his head!"

Roman quickly brought his cane down and pulled the trigger. Zack only grinned as he cut the bullet into two pieces. The two halves of the splintered shell flew past him, smashing explosively into the nearby cargo containers. He'd taken down cannon shells in mid-air before, a couple of bullets, explosive rounds or not, was nothing out of the norm for him.

"O-o-okay, that's new," Roman took a step back and tilted his head at the White Fang members, "Well? Are you mutts going to do something or what?"

The White Fang members seemed to all share a brief look with one another before nodding in agreement. They all began to creep closer with various drawn weapons as Roman made his escape.

"Zack, take care of the grunts," Blake briskly whispered, "Torchwick is mine."

Zack never even had a chance to say anything back as Blake had already disappeared behind the maze of shipping containers. He wanted to sigh in frustration, but a White Fang member rushing straight at him didn't allow time for it. He sidestepped the poorly telegraphed attack and smashed the blunt end of his sword into the back of the masked man's head.

He parried another strike and kicked the Fang member into a crate. When his sword cut through another White Fang member's torso like butter, his eyes widened briefly at the lack of Aura protection. Zack didn't let his mind dwell on it though, as more and more Faunus threw themselves at him.

He cut down the rest of them with mechanical like precision and ease, fitting for a SOLDIER. The remaining two White Fang members glanced at each other before they quickly dropped their weapons and ran away. Zack didn't bother giving chase, he'd rather not spill any more blood if he didn't have to. He shook his sword a bit in a futile attempt to get some of the blood off. The docks that once smelled like fish now reeked of the stench of copper and death, the stink of the aftermath of battle.

A choked gasp caught his attention. A White Fang member laid strapped up against a shipping container with a hand held over the gaping hole on his stomach. The Faunus tried to keep his innards from spilling out, but it was a futile attempt. Zack made his way over and stood in front of the masked man.

"M-monster," The man managed to choke out.

Zack brought his sword down before the masked man even knew what happened. Blood splattered against the walls of the container. He'd been in enough battlefields to know a fatal wound when he saw one. He knew a few healing spells, but he wasn't a miracle worker, the Faunus was a dead man walking, better to put him out of his misery than to let him suffer.

He drew his sword back and the mask rolled off the man's face, revealing a pair of tusks. Zack reached down and picked up the mask. It was ironic that the ones that donned the faces of monsters would call him the monster.

He couldn't help but frown at the word; it left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Monster. Monster. **Monster**. The word resonated through his brain. It was as if that word was all that ever revolved around him. No matter where he was, the word seemed to follow him like a shadow followed it's source. Genesis's words echoed through his head and he clenched his fist, crushing the mask into pieces. SOLDIER didn't mean monster.

The revving of engines brought his attention towards the skies. The bullheads were starting to pull away from the area. Another explosion tore through the air and he saw Blake get blown into a nearby container. He quickly ran over and saw the girl slumped over, unconscious. She was banged up and knocked out, but alive. He glanced over at the man responsible, but Roman was already standing aboard the last bullhead.

"It's been fun kiddos, but it's time for me to make my exit," Roman tipped his hat, "I'll say this kid, you can color me impressed. Not many people out there that can chop up animals like that. If you ever get tired of the whole huntsman shtick, I'm always hiring!"

The thief laughed as the door to the bullhead slammed shut and the airship took off. Zack's right hand briefly glowed with the familiar light of a fire spell, but he quickly let it fade away. They were probably already in enough trouble as it was, better to not break his promise to Ozpin on top of it all.

Zack put a hand on Blake's shoulder and a faint glow began to encompass the Faunus girl. The girl began to stir and he took a step back, giving her some space.

"Ugh," Blake put a hand to her head, "…Zack?"

He gave her a small grin and held out his hand, "Yo."

She took his hand pulled herself up, "Where's Torchwick?"

"Gone, ran away in one of the bullheads."

Blake dusted herself off and sighed.

"Damn, I wanted to question him about the White-"

Blake paused mid-sentence as her eyes went wide in worry.

"Zack, are you alright?"

He raised an eyebrow before looking down at himself, or more specifically his bloodstained clothing.

"Yeah, don't worry. The blood's not mine," He tilted his head back, "It's theirs."

Blake tilted her head as well and glanced over his shoulder. Zack didn't miss how she slightly stiffened at the sight. Battlefields were always grisly scenes.

"You're doing that thing again," He gave her a slight grin.

"Zack," Blake frowned, "This isn't the time for jokes."

The girl stepped around him and walked over towards the dead.

"Did you have to kill them?"

He frowned.

"They tried to kill us Blake."

She sighed as she knelt down beside one of the fallen.

"I know, but… Most of them were just following orders Zack."

He crossed his arms over his chest.

"If you didn't want a fight, then you shouldn't have jumped out in the first place. Wasn't this supposed to be a stakeout anyway?"

"I couldn't just let them go, I had to at least try to find out why they were doing this."

"You made your choice by interfering with their plans. They made their choice when they tried to kill us," He leaned back against the walls of one of the shipping containers and closed his eyes, "And I made mine."

When they attacked, those White Fang members became enemies in his eyes. No matter how you wanted to cut it, in the end, SOLDIER trained you to be a killer. He was a killer, Angeal was a killer, Genesis was a killer, and the great hero himself was a killer. It was a part of who he was, denying it would be hypocrisy of the highest order. This was the path that he had chosen to walk long ago.

Blake slowly stood back up and took out her scroll.

"We should probably inform the police about what happened here," She began in an even tone, "And our teams too."

"They're already on the way, our teams I mean," He pointed out, "I sent them a text beforehand."

"I'll call the police then."

Zack opened his eyes and sighed, no doubt that the police were going to question them. The last thing he wanted to do right now was play fifty questions with a suit. The night just kept on getting better and better. He was starting to think that Russel had a point with his reluctance.

* * *

Ruby felt her hair flutter in the wind as her sister continued to hit the gas. She kept her grip around her sister's waist tight as the motorcycle quickly sped down the road. They had rushed back towards the city after receiving Zack's text about the White Fang.

Eventually, the mechanized bike came to a stop in front of the familiar sights of the Vale docks. Yang hopped off the bike first and she followed soon after.

"Hope we didn't miss the party," Yang said as she took off her helmet.

"I just hope that they're okay," Ruby frowned.

"Eh, I'm sure they're fine sis," The blonde replied as she headed down towards the docks, "My partner's pretty good, and so is Zack."

Ruby followed closed behind.

"Do you think that everyone else is already here?" She asked.

"No way! Who else has a ride as fast as my baby?"

Ruby laughed, "I guess that's true sis."

When they arrived at the scene, Ruby was surprised to see that the Vale P.D. had already sealed the place off. A bunch of police officers, detectives, and medics were hurrying about their business.

They finally found Blake and Zack sitting on a couple of wooden crates in the back. When they made to hop over the police line, an officer stopped them.

"Hey, can't you kids read?" He pointed at the tape, "It says 'do not cross' for a reason."

Ruby was about to reply but her sister beat her to the punch.

"Relax bub. We're huntresses from Beacon Academy. Those two over there," Yang pointed at Zack and Blake, "Are a part of our team."

The man's eyes widened when he heard the word huntresses. He muttered a quick apology and let them through. Yang rolled her eyes before hopping over and Ruby followed quickly behind. When they made it over towards their friends, Ruby's eyes widened.

"Zack, you're bleeding!"

"Relax Ruby, I'm fine," He grinned, "It's not mine."

Yang raised an eyebrow, "So, what happened here?"

"It was my fault," Blake sighed, "I went after the White Fang. They were working with Roman Torchwick and we got into a fight."

"Huh, Torchwick?" Yang put a finger towards her face in thought, "Isn't that the guy you stopped at the Dust shop Rubes?"

Ruby didn't hear her sister though, she didn't hear any of them, instead she was still focused on Zack. The full implications of his words finally dawned on her.

"Zack," She slowly began, "If that isn't your blood… Then, whose is it?"

The boy in front of her blinked once before he tilted his head towards the side. Her eyes trailed into that direction until they landed on a line of black body bags. A couple of police officers stood around, but she didn't pay them any heed. Her attention was focused solely on those black bags and what lay inside.

"Zack," She tried to keep her voice even, "Did you... kill them?"

The look of surprise on everyone's face probably meant that she hadn't done a good job of it. But, she didn't care about any of that right now and kept her attention solely on the boy sitting in front of her. When Zack slowly nodded, she couldn't help but feel a part of her break inside. Zack was a good person, she knew he was! How could he just kill people like that?!

"Why…" She could feel her throat begin to tense, "How could you?"

The boy frowned, "They tried to kill us Ruby."

"So...? We're the good guys, you could have just stopped them!" Her voice began to rise, "Didn't you say that your dream was to become a hero?!" She was almost yelling at this point, "Heroes don't kill people Zack!"

"…Ruby," Yang softly said as she put a hand on her shoulder.

She could feel her vision begin to blur. Tears threatened to leak out, but she didn't care.

"Heroes… Are supposed to save people. They're supposed to save everyone," Ruby could feel her voice begin to crack, "Not kill them Zack…"

The boy sighed.

"…Not even heroes can save everyone Ruby," He gave her a sad smile, "Real life isn't like one of those fairytales."

She bit her lower lip, "Did you even try…?"

A Vale P.D. detective walked over and coughed, getting everyone's attention. Ruby began to wipe away the tears with her sleeves.

"Sorry if I interrupted anything, but I need you two," The detective tilted his head at Blake and Zack, "To come with me back to the station for some questioning, if that's alright."

They both nodded, albeit reluctantly, and hopped off the crates.

"I'll see you back at the dorm Yang," Blake said as she walked by.

"Yeah, sure partner," Yang quietly replied.

Zack walked past her as well, and after a couple of steps, he stopped.

"What you're thinking of aren't heroes Ruby, they're ideals. You can't save everyone," When it became apparent to him that she wasn't going to say anything more, he sighed and started walking again, "I'll see you guys later."

Zack was wrong. Her heroes weren't just ideals, they were real, and she would prove it to him. She would save everyone, no matter what.

"Rubes…" Her sister's grip on her shoulder tightened.

"He's wrong Yang."

He had to be.

* * *

Ozpin let a soft sigh escape his lips as he glanced at the report detailing Beacon's budget. With how many Dust robberies there had been lately, the prices of Dust from the Schnee Dust Company have been raising higher and higher. The worst part of it all was that the people still had no choice but to pay those outrageous prices. The Schnee Dust Company was a monopoly when it came to the Dust market and they knew it.

As if the rising expenses weren't enough, there were still the actual robberies to deal with. The Vale P.D. did their best, but they couldn't be expected to do much against the likes of Roman Torchwick and the White Fang. Only a huntsman could take down another huntsman. He got up and poured himself some much needed coffee. He could already feel a headache coming on. Dealing with the business side of being headmaster had always worn on him.

Ozpin took a sip from his freshly brewed drink and made sure to savor the taste. Sitting back down into his chair, he took another look at the finance report before turning his chair around to face the window. He took in the night sky of Beacon from his office and took another sip from his mug. A little break from work couldn't hurt, as long as Gylnda didn't find out anyway.

It was barely five minutes into his break before an incoming transmission from his scroll began to ring. Ozpin sighed as he turned his chair around once more before tapping the receive button on his scroll.

To his surprise, a familiar face buzzed onto the screen.

"Hello Oz."

"James, this is a surprise," Ozpin greeted the man with a nod.

"I'm assuming you've heard?" The general asked.

Ozpin took a sip from his mug.

"About the attack on one of your military bases?" The general nodded, "Yes, I've heard about it. It was reported that it was the White Fang was it not?"

"I'm sure you've realized that it wasn't the Fang Oz," Ironwood sighed, "That was simply a false report we gave to the media."

The headmaster put his mug back on the table and folded his hands.

"I had my suspicions. The White Fang attacking one of your military bases serves no purpose, and is something that is completely different from what they have been doing lately."

"Here's what we've managed to capture on our security cameras Oz."

Ozpin hit the accept button on his scroll and waited patiently as the file began to transfer over. After a good couple of minutes, he hit the play button and watched the scene unfold. He saw a man with one wing cut his way through the fortress. He couldn't help but be surprised, winged Faunus were extremely rare, but one with only one wing?

The man's hand began to glow and balls of fire shot out from his fingertips. The recording soon ended as an explosion took out the camera.

"James, what have you been able to find out about that man?"

The general's picture soon appeared on screen again.

"Not much of anything. The man's a ghost, we've looked through every Faunus's record in the whole kingdom and we couldn't find one other person that fit his description."

Ozpin reached for his mug and took another sip.

"And do we know why he attacked?"

Ironwood sent over some more files, "Those are the research documents that he stole from us. They were mostly Aura based documents, studies on Aura manipulation and transfer."

Ozpin began to scan through the documents before Ironwood's video feed cut in once again.

"Oz, there's something you should know. That man, he left this behind," Ironwood brought a small little orb up towards the camera.

The headmaster narrowed his eyes, "A Materia gem."

"Just like the one you sent me," The general paused, "Oz, this thing… It summoned a god damn dragon... It took down one of our frigate class gunships Oz. That man is dangerous."

"Indeed, he is." The headmaster nodded in agreement.

"First the Red Queen, and then the White Fang. And now, the One-Winged Angel," Ironwood frowned, "Oz, we need to do something about this. This can't be all coincidence, something big is going on in the background."

"James, we are in a time of peace. Mobilizing your army now will only bring about panic."

"Then what?" The general grimly asked, "What do we do then Oz?"

Ozpin let his fingers drum against his mug, "We wait."

"We… Wait? We can't just wait and do nothing while our enemies-"

"We are not 'doing nothing' general," Ozpin interrupted, "We need more information before we can make a move James. Qrow has still yet to return from his mission."

"We've lost contact with him over two weeks ago Oz. What if he's been compromised?"

"Be patient James. Qrow has never let us down before."

"I can't just 'be patient' while our enemies maneuver in the shadows Oz," Ironwood ground out.

"Nonetheless, we are still in a time of _peace_ general. Making a bold move right now will help no one."

"… If we keep letting them do what they want, there won't be _peace_ for long Oz," Ironwood bitterly spat out.

Ozpin couldn't help but sigh. The general was a valuable ally and had been one for a number of years. But he couldn't deny that the man could get over aggressive at times. When his scroll beeped again and he checked the contents of the message, the headmaster frowned.

"We're going to have to continue this discussion another time James."

"What? What could possibly be more important than this Ozpin?" The general asked.

"My students. It seems they've gotten into a little trouble with the White Fang," Ozpin replied before hitting the end button on the call.

He reached for his cane and frowned. The general did have a point on one thing.

Troubling times were ahead.

* * *

Author's Note- Well, this is now officially the longest thing that I've ever written. I'm surprised I've actually made it this far to be honest.

Review Corner-

Thunder Dragon- Mmm, I know I've been delaying the whole new sword thing, but it'll happen eventually (Soon™). I don't really care much for the whole power levels thing, especially when it comes to Square games due to inconsistencies. I don't think the Zack right now is really any weaker than the Zack at the end of the game, story wise anyway. They've both made First already, though I guess you could say that getting the Buster Sword could count as a power up. I don't think power levels should really be the end all in fights anyway, I'm sure weaker characters can beat stronger ones through clever use of tactics and such. As for question 3, I don't really know, I don't have the story that far planned out to be honest, lol.

The Baz- Oh yeah, he wouldn't be Genesis without the poetry. Sure, I'll give it a read. Haven't much free time to do much reading lately with school and writing this.

Gravenimage- I've thought about pairings, but I don't have anything set in stone. We'll see in the future I suppose.

Enigma Infinite- Hmm, I thought that I had described that they would all be at the docks in the prior scene. My mistake I suppose, I guess I could have made it more clear.

Flamelegendvargas- You'll get your LOVELESS quotes soon enough, heh.

XxoiIioxX- Not going to lie, trying to come up with the new team names was probably harder than writing the actual chapter, lol.

Xanothos- Can't say I have, haven't had much time to do much reading lately.

Kadajismybestfriendforever- Who is?

Lchocoteddy- Hey to you too :). Trying to imagine Qrow being a teacher is already funny enough, heh.

Taromaru- Yeah, I definitely agree with you there. That attack animation was so over the top, lol.

XxPokemonmasterxX- True, but fighting probably hurts in general. Personally, I think that bullets are only useful against the Grimm or non-huntsmen. I can't really recall many times where people even get hit by bullets in the show.

Think that's it for now. As for everyone else, thanks as usual for the support. I'll see you guys next chapter~

-SFX


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10-

All that Creates Suffering

* * *

What was Adam thinking?

That same thought played through Blake's mind again and again as she sat in one of the dimly lit rooms of the Vale police station.

She knew that the Adam of today was no longer the boy that she had grown up in the White Fang with. He was more akin to a beast than a person these days, fitting of the monster like mask that he chose to don. He had changed along the way; his sense of justice had become warped. What had once been a quest for peace had turned into a thirst for vengeance and revolution.

She understood all of this, and that made her all the more afraid. Under his leadership, the White Fang had turned to violence. Bombings, kidnappings, and assassinations had become a part of the norm for the group.

These new Dust robberies, they were different. It wasn't like Adam; his primary goal had always been to instill a fear of the White Fang among the humans. These robberies didn't fit that narrative, fear wasn't the goal here. The White Fang was hoarding Dust, tons of it, but why? What was their end game here?

And then there was Roman Torchwick. Adam would never work with a human, especially one of Torchwick's nature. Yet, there they were at the docks, the White Fang and Torchwick working side by side.

That could only mean one thing.

Someone else was pulling the strings on these operations, and they had the White Fang backing them. The question was, why? Why were the White Fang backing them? What was Adam hoping to gain from this?

"Ms. Belladonna... Ms. Belladonna!"

Blake blinked.

Judging from the irritated look on the detective that sat across from her, she had done too good of a job in tuning him out. It wasn't out of malice or anything; her time was simply better spent brainstorming rather than answering useless questions. Vale P.D. just wasn't going to be able to do much of anything if the White Fang were working with the likes of Roman Torchwick.

"Sorry," She sincerely apologized, "What were you saying?"

The man glared at her for a moment before he reached into his pocket and took out a scroll. The detective took a quick glance at the apparent message before he sighed and put the electronic device away.

"Nevermind, forget about it," He waved off, "You and your friend are free to go. Someone from Beacon's here to pick you guys up."

The door to the room soon popped open and another officer ushered her to follow him to the waiting room. Naturally, she obliged, wanting to escape from the small room as quickly as possible.

The trek to the waiting room had been quick and to her surprise, Zack was already there. The spiky haired boy sat on one of the many seats scattered around the room with his legs stretched out and a magazine in his hands. She sat down on a seat across from him and took a glance at the pile of magazines on the table. Sadly, none of the reading material at hand was to her taste.

"So," Zack began as he lazily flipped through a page, "How was it?"

"Bothersome," She paused, "But, I suppose that was to be expected."

Zack tossed the magazine back on the table and stifled a yawn.

"Who do you think they sent to get us?" He asked.

Blake shrugged, "I don't know, probably one of the professors."

"Hope it's not Professor Port," Zack grimaced, "Last thing I need right now is another one of his life stories."

She couldn't help but agree with him in that regard.

"You won't have to worry about that, Mr. Fair."

Blake's eyes widened in surprise when she turned her attention towards the source of the voice. She had expected one of the professors to show up, maybe even Goodwitch, but not the headmaster himself.

"So uh," Zack rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish look on his face, "Are we in trouble?"

Ozpin just smiled as he let his hands rest on the top of his cane.

"Let's discuss this once we're back at the academy," The headmaster said as he turned around, "Come, there's a bullhead waiting outside."

She looked over towards Zack, who simply shrugged and began following after their white haired headmaster. She decided to follow suit.

* * *

The ride back had been brief. Brief and quiet as no one spoke much during the trip. Blake didn't mind, she was always a bit of a solitary person, she liked quiet.

"Ms. Belladonna, we will discuss this matter tomorrow. It is late, and I assume that most of your teammates are already asleep."

Blake simply nodded in response and began to walk away.

Zack yawned as he began to walk away as well, "Sounds good to me, night."

"Actually Mr. Fair, I'd like you to come with me."

She stopped walking and turned around with a raised eyebrow. Zack had a similar expression on his face.

"I thought you said we were going to talk about it tomorrow?" Zack asked.

"And we will," The headmaster evenly replied, "But, this is about a different matter."

"Uh," Zack scratched the back of his head, "Alright then."

When the spiky haired boy noticed that she was staring, he gave her a shrug before following after the headmaster. She briefly watched them as they walked down the hall, before she decided to turn around and head back to her own dorm. Whatever it was, it wasn't any of her business. She was a little curious, but at this point, she had her own problems to worry about.

As she walked down the dimly lit halls of Beacon Academy, she couldn't help but sigh. Blake doubted that she would get much sleep tonight, not after what had transpired. The White Fang and their plans were beginning to weigh down on her.

She was surprised to find Yang leaning against the wall near their dorm. The blonde looked up from her scroll and gave her a wave.

"Hey partner, how was dealing with Vale P.D.?"

"Annoying," Blake summed up, "Why are you out here?"

"Couldn't sleep, so I thought that I might as well wait for you."

Blake raised an eyebrow, "Out here?"

The blonde shrugged, "There's nothing to do inside anyway. Everyone's already asleep."

"I see," Blake nodded, "…Well, I'm back. Let's go inside."

She reached for the doorknob of their room and began to turn the handle. When Yang's hand stopped her, she raised an eyebrow at her partner.

"Yang?"

"Hold up. Let's talk out here first, don't want to wake them up," Yang replied, before letting go of her arm.

"I already told you guys what happened at the docks."

"Yeah, I know," The blonde paused, as if contemplating her words, "It's not that, I want to talk about you."

Blake frowned, "What about me?"

"I mean like, this whole White Fang thing. Just…" Yang trailed off, "Are you going to be okay? I know that you didn't want them to be behind all of this."

She shared a brief look with her blonde haired partner before sighing.

"I'll be fine Yang. I… probably knew deep down that they were. I guess that I just didn't want to believe it, until I saw it with my own eyes," Blake gave a small smile, "Don't worry about it. I'm... no longer associated with them. What they do now, is their own business."

"If you say so partner," Yang put a hand on her shoulder, "But, if you ever want to talk about it, I'll always be here."

"Thanks, but I'm fine," Blake reassured with a more genuine smile this time, "What about your sister? Is she doing… alright?"

Yang took her hand off her shoulder and sighed.

"I don't even know. She clammed up after you guys left and ran straight into her room afterwards," The blonde replied as she slumped against the wall, "Where's Zack anyway? Did he go back to the dorm?"

Blake shook her head, "No, he went off with Professor Ozpin."

"What for?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. The headmaster didn't say."

"Ugh… Today turned out to be such a drag," Yang groaned as she slid down the wall into a seated position on the floor.

Blake couldn't help but agree. It had been a… tiresome day to say the least. Before she even knew it, she found herself taking a seat on the floor next to her fiery companion.

"Hey," Yang softly began, "Between Ruby and Zack, who do you think was right?"

Blake thought about it. She knew that you couldn't save everyone, that there would be times when you had to kill, times where you won't have a choice. As much as she wanted to deny it, she had killed before, for those same very reasons.

"Ruby is… Naïve," She whispered back, "Remember when we first met? How she told me that she wanted to be a hero, just like the ones in the fairytales? That's not how real life works. But…"

"But…?" Yang asked.

"But… She just said it with such conviction that…" Blake trailed off, "I don't know, I guess I just want to believe her."

"Hmm…" Yang hummed, before she broke into a grin, "Yeah, I like that, that's a good answer partner."

"What about you?"

"Mmm... I'll just go with what you said."

Blake frowned, "That's a cop out Yang. You can't just ask me a loaded question like that and then not tell me your answer."

"Ah forget about it," The blonde brushed off as she jumped to her feet, "I'm tired, let's go to sleep now."

Blake just rolled her eyes as she got up as well and followed her fiery companion into the room.

* * *

Zack let his eyes lazily rest on the two professors that stood before him. Professor Goodwitch was standing by Ozpin's desk as usual while the old headmaster was fiddling with his scroll. Eventually, as if satisfied, Ozpin finally put the device back down on the desk and reached for his mug.

"Now, I assume that you are curious as to why I wanted to speak with you," The headmaster said before taking a sip from his drink.

"Uh, yeah," Zack nodded.

Ozpin paused in his reply, as if he was musing over it. The headmaster took another long sip from his mug before he finally decided to speak.

"Tell me Mr. Fair; does a man with one wing sound familiar to you?"

Zack blinked, as if stunned. He found himself at a loss for words, as if he was completely taken aback by the question. A man with one wing… There were only two people that he knew of that fit that description.

"Yeah…" Zack managed to usher out, "Yeah; that does sound familiar."

"I see," Ozpin calmly replied as he hit a button on his scroll, "Did you hear that James?"

"I did," A stern voice answered from the device, "Show him the footage Oz."

The headmaster deftly typed in a couple commands onto the scroll before he gracefully slid it across the table. Zack stared down on the screen of the device, eyes wide in trepidation. Soon, a grainy image of a dark silhouette appeared on the screen. It was hard to see much of anything, but the wing on the man was one that Zack recognized almost instantly. When the camera finally managed to get a better view of the man, Zack scowled.

"Genesis…"

"You know of him then?" Ozpin asked.

Zack didn't immediately reply; instead he continued to stare at the grainy image of the former First Class SOLDIER until the footage finally died out. A million different things were running through his mind at that point. The one thought that stood out amongst the rest was a rather simple one though. Genesis was on Remnant.

"Yeah… You could say that," Zack tersely replied.

"I see," The headmaster nodded, "So, this 'Genesis' person-"

"What do you know of him?" The stern voice cut in once more as a grainy image of a clean cut man appeared on the screen.

Zack looked down at the man on the screen, before turning his head back towards the headmaster in front of him.

"That is General Ironwood of Atlas, Mr. Fair," Ozpin began, "The footage that you saw of this 'Genesis' person was from one of the General's security cameras. He attacked an Atlas military base recently."

Zack frowned as he slowly nodded. So, Genesis was here and he was still at large. A dozen or so different questions ran through his head as he took the new information in.

"Zack, was it?" The general asked.

Zack nodded.

"Zack, what can you tell us about this person?" The general pressed, "What are his motives? His abilities? Just who is he?"

The general stared at him with expectation evident in his eyes. Professor Goodwitch looked stoic as usual while the headmaster had a very calm look on his face. They managed to hide their feelings well, but he knew that there would be no shirking from an explanation now.

So, Zack took a deep breath.

He told them everything he knew about Genesis Rhapsodos. He told them about how Genesis had betrayed SOLDIER. He told them about Angeal and how his mentor was involved in the situation. He told them about Banora village and how it was razed to the ground. He told them everything, even all the classified information that Director Lazard had given him about the man. He left out the part about project G. They didn't need to know about that. He wouldn't have been able to give a good explanation about it anyway; he barely knew what to make of the project himself.

"That… is quite the tale," Ozpin murmured after he had finished.

"Indeed," General Ironwood agreed, "But, that still doesn't tell us what we need to know. Just what exactly is his motive?"

"I don't know," Zack curtly replied.

And it was true. He didn't know. Zack had no idea what Genesis's motives were, what Angeal's motives were. He doubted that anyone other than the two men themselves did.

"That's troublesome…" Ironwood sighed, "But, what you've been able to tell us has been very informative, and helpful. Thank you, Zack."

"Yes, thank you for your assistance on the matter Mr. Fair," Ozpin continued, "Why don't you go get some sleep now. You've had a long day, and it is getting late after all."

Zack didn't reply. Instead, he stood up to his full height and looked the headmaster in the eyes.

"I'm going to look for Genesis," He stated.

Ozpin raised an eyebrow at this.

"According to the general, Genesis has been missing since the attack," Ozpin countered.

"I'm going to find him."

Zack wanted answers. And if anyone had them, it would be Genesis.

"How would you even begin?" Ozpin asked.

"I… I'll go to Atlas. I'm going to find him," Zack repeated with finality.

"Absolutely not. Going off on your own in Vale is one thing Mr. Fair," Professor Goodwitch cut in, "But going off to another country is another, especially since you are registered as a citizen of Vale."

Zack frowned, "I'm going to look for Genesis. You can't stop me."

"On the contrary, we can," Professor Goodwitch shot back, "You are a student of Beacon, you are a representation of the school, and as your professors we simply cannot allow you to go on a search mission in another country. There are rules and regulations we must follow Mr. Fair."

"Then I'm dropping out," Zack began, "That should be fine then, right?"

"Let's not be so hasty now Mr. Fair," Ozpin replied, "Even if we were to approve of this mission, where would you even begin?"

"I'd go to military base that he attacked and start from there."

"The general already has his men scouring the area Mr. Fair. While he might have once been in Atlas, for all we know, Genesis could be long gone by now."

"I can't just let this go Professor," Zack clenched his fists, "If Genesis is here, I need to find him."

The headmaster didn't say anything in response and only gazed at him appraisingly. Zack returned the stare with one of his own. He wouldn't back down from this, he would find Genesis.

"Oz, if the boy already has his mind set, why not let him go?" General Ironwood's voice chirped from the scroll.

Ozpin glanced down at the video feed with a weary look on his face, "And did you have something in mind James?"

"I'll take responsibility for the boy while he's in Atlas Oz, you won't have to worry about the council hounding you about this," The general replied, "Why not let him conduct his search? He knows more about Genesis than any of us. Give him a few months; with the Vtyal festival nearing, it'll be perfect. When I head over to Vale for the festival, I'll bring him back with me. The boys down in the science department have been hounding me about Zack for a while anyway."

Ozpin shared a look with the general for a moment. The headmaster glanced back over at him but Zack didn't waver. Eventually, after a brief standoff, the headmaster sighed.

"Very well," Ozpin murmured, "You will be under the General's jurisdiction while you are in Atlas. Are you satisfied with that Mr. Fair?"

Zack nodded. As long as he was able to search for Genesis, he didn't care about the details.

"I'll have one of my ships start heading over to Vale to pick the boy up immediately," Ironwood added, "It should be there in a few days."

"Now that everything's settled, how about we all get some sleep? It's late enough as it is," The headmaster curtly said, "And Mr. Fair, You'll have to let your team know about this new development as well."

Zack blinked. Right, he had a team now. A team that he was breaking up by running off to Atlas… But, he had to find Genesis. He needed answers, and Genesis was his first lead since he had been found by Ruby that day.

When the thought of the young reaper entered his head, he couldn't help but sigh. She hadn't seemed too happy with him after the incident with the White Fang. Telling her that he was leaving for a while probably wouldn't be easy. Then again, with how everyone had been practicing for the Vytal festival coming up, telling the rest of the team probably wouldn't be easy anyway.

It would only be temporary. They would understand.

Hopefully.

* * *

He stared at the now empty plot of land. What had once been a thriving farming village had been reduced to a cindering pile of ash and dust. Everyone he knew was gone, his family dead, and his honor broken. It was a sad sight to look at.

"I thought that I would find you here."

Angeal glanced over his shoulder. He wasn't surprised that they would send Sephiroth after him.

"Did Shinra send you to bring me back?"

The silver haired SOLDIER kept walking until the two men were standing side by side along the edge of the cliff. A single unblemished Banora tree stood underneath, serving as the only reminder of the village that was razed to the ground.

"My orders were to eliminate you."

"I see," Angeal slowly replied.

They stood side by side, neither one of them saying anything. A soft breeze could be felt blowing through the air. It smelt of sulfur and ash, a chilling reminder of what Shinra was willing to go through with to protect their secrets.

"Hollander is dead," Sephiroth finally said.

Angeal's eyes briefly widened at the statement. So, his father… No, not his father, his father was dead. This was simply the man that had created the monster that he was. He wasn't sure how he felt about the news of his passing. The one thing that came to forefront of his mind was what happened to his friend.

"And… Genesis?"

"Genesis hasn't been seen since the incident."

"I see," Angeal slowly repeated.

As if satisfied, Sephiroth turned around and began to walk away, having delivered his message.

"Tell me Angeal," The silver haired man stopped mid stride, "Have you finally made your decision?"

Had he finally made his choice? Did he choose to remain loyal to his best friend? Or did he damn himself and his honor, choosing to take the mantle of the villain. Angeal reached over his shoulder and slowly drew out the Buster sword. He held it in front of him and closed his eyes.

"I… I choose to protect my honor. My enemy is all that creates suffering."

Sephiroth tilted his head and glanced back. There was a hard look on the general's eyes.

"And Genesis?"

Angeal snapped the Buster sword back into its place on his back. He opened his eyes and matched Sephiroth's gaze with one of his own.

"All that creates suffering," He repeated, with finality.

The silver haired man nodded, "Will you return to SOLDIER then?"

"I… I can't live on that side anymore Sephiroth," Angeal softy whispered as a great white wing emerged from his back.

If the general was shocked in any way, the man hid it well.

"I see," Sephiroth evenly replied.

Silence soon took over once more. Angeal cracked a dry smile.

"So, I thought your orders were to eliminate me?"

Sephiroth gave a slight grin in response, "They are. I simply failed to do so."

"The great hero failing a mission?" Angeal chuckled, "If Zack were to hear of this, he would never let you live it down."

"Angeal…" The general paused, as if contemplating his words, "Zack is missing."

"What…?"

"There have been orders to eliminate you, Genesis, and Zack on sight. Shinra believes that he has betrayed them as well."

Angeal narrowed his eyes, "Zack wouldn't do that. He has nothing to gain from abandoning SOLDIER."

"The Turks seem to believe that he has joined up with you," Sephiroth pointed out.

"Preposterous."

"Nonetheless," The general paused once more, "Zack is missing, and the order for his elimination has been sent out."

Angeal grit his teeth. He had tried to distance himself from the boy, to not let him get any more involved than he already was. He should've expected that Zack would try something. He clenched his fists and began to walk off.

"Going to look for him?" The general asked.

"I have to," Angeal evenly replied.

Zack was his responsibility, he wasn't going to stand around and let the boy get himself killed. His honor had been stained enough.

"The Turks have already scoured the plate. They haven't found a single thing regarding his whereabouts."

"That's because he wasn't on the plates. He fell down to the slums after our battle."

"So, you think he is in the slums then?" The general questioned.

"At the very least, I'll be able to find some clues on his whereabouts," Angeal paused, "Sephiroth, about the mission."

"I won't be able to tell Shinra your whereabouts," Sephiroth gave a small grin once more, "After all, I failed remember?"

"Thank you, old friend."

Angeal began to flap his wing.

"When this is all over, I may choose to retire from Shinra as well," Sephiroth cryptically stated.

Angeal couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. Retirement didn't seem to suit the man. He gave his burned down village one last glance before his wing took him to the skies. The time for doubt was over, he had to find Zack and quickly, before Shinra did.

* * *

Author's Note- Hmm... Not much happening other than exposition, as the chapter mostly served as a transition. Think of it as the calm before the storm I suppose. That and I've been getting some writer's block.

Review Corner-

After-tea: To be fair, their meeting was cut short, so he didn't really have the time to bring it up.

HalFF: Thank you for the compliment friend.

Blackwolf249: Eh, I want to say by the next chapter, but you guy's know how it goes with me. I'm always changing things up at the last second.

Thunder Dragon: You'll find out about Winter soon enough :). Who says that Genesis is going to get Aura, heh. I mean, he'll summon them when the situation demands it. Not much has really happened yet, so he hasn't had the need to go all out.

Kain541204: How do you think I could improve that segment to make it easier to follow? Hope you have a good day as well friend.

Flamelegendvargas: Hmm, now that you point that out, I kind of think so too.

Kadajismybestfriend: Lol, shouldn't you change your name then?

The Baz: Yeah, that's Sephiroth's moniker. But, that was just what I figured Ironwood would call him, kind of like how they call Cinder the Red Queen. I mean they don't know his name, and a man with a wing is an angel right?

Enigma Infinite: I'm happy to hear that! I spent a lot of time on that scene so it's nice to hear that it had an impact, ah ha. I don't know about other FF games as I've only played CC but in CC after a summon is defeated, the Materia gem is left behind.

SomeOne Random: Hmm, that sounds interesting. Maybe I'll make an omake one of these days about it.

G.N. Shards: I'm glad you liked it.

PersonaQeminod1: We might see some more drama in the future.

NickTheGreek: Something else in the good way? Or the bad way? lol

I think that's it for questions, for everyone that reviewed, thank you as usual. I'll see you guys in the next chapter~

-SFX


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